ALTHOUGH DEFENDANT ACTED SUSPICIOUSLY THE POLICE DID NOT HAVE A REASONABLE SUSPICION HE WAS ENGAGED IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AT THE TIME DEFENDANT FLED; DEFENDANT’S SUPPRESSION MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing County Court, over a two-justice dissent, determined the police did not have reasonable suspicion defendant was involved in criminal activity at the time he fled and the police pursued him. Therefore his suppression motion (re: a discarded weapon and statements) should have been granted and the indictment dismissed. Defendant was a passenger in the back seat of a car stopped for a traffic infraction. When the occupants were asked to step out of the car, defendant ran:

… [T]he officers stopped the vehicle for a traffic infraction as opposed to a call related to a particular crime. Although defendant appeared to reach toward his waistband, he never touched his waistband and there was no other indication of a weapon, such as a bulge or the visible outline of a gun … . A suspect’s action in grabbing at his or her waistband, standing alone, is insufficient to establish reasonable suspicion of a crime … .

Defendant’s nervousness, use of a bottle cap, and “blading” do not provide additional specific circumstances indicating that defendant was engaged in criminal activity. There is no doubt that defendant engaged in furtive and suspicious activity and that his pattern of behavior, viewed as a whole, was suspicious, but there is nothing in this record to establish that the officers had a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct to justify the pursuit … . People v Williams, 2021 NY Slip Op 00983, Fourth Dept 2-11-21