The Fourth Department determined the blocking of the car in which defendant was a passenger by parking at the entrance to the driveway was only a permissible level two intrusion:
The charges against defendant arose after the police, who were investigating a recent stabbing, encountered defendant in a vehicle matching the description and anticipated location of the stabbing suspect’s vehicle given in a police dispatch.
We conclude that the police conduct was justified in its inception and at every subsequent stage of the encounter leading to defendant’s arrest … . Contrary to defendant’s contention, the police action in pulling up behind the subject vehicle, which had parked in defendant’s driveway after passing the officers’ patrol car, constituted only a level two intrusion … despite the fact that a police vehicle blocked the subject vehicle’s egress from the driveway … . The police at that point had the requisite founded suspicion to justify the level two intrusion.
The police escalated the encounter to a level three intrusion when they approached defendant, who had begun to exit the vehicle, and ordered him to remain in the vehicle … . Evaluating the totality of the circumstances … , we conclude that the police conduct was justified by the officers’ reasonable suspicion that defendant was the suspect described in the dispatch … . The officers found defendant less than two miles away from the scene of the stabbing, which had occurred approximately 20 minutes earlier. Defendant’s gender, race, height, and weight matched the description of the stabbing suspect. Furthermore, witnesses at the scene of the stabbing informed the police that the suspect left the scene in a small silver vehicle driven by a black female and that the vehicle may have been headed toward a residence on Mark Avenue. Defendant was a passenger in a silver vehicle driven by a black female, and the driveway in which the driver parked the vehicle was 50 to 75 yards from Mark Avenue. People v Pettiford, 2019 NY Slip Op 04620, Fourth Dept 6-7-19
SUPPRESSION, SUPPRESS, DE BOUR