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OH8: Leaving the area after seeing police is not reasonable suspicion

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Presence in a high crime area, waving at two women in a car, walking over to talk to them, and turning and going back to his car on seeing the police car is not reasonable suspicion. State v. Hodges, 2009 Ohio 3378, 2009 Ohio App. LEXIS 2901 (8th Dist. July 9, 2009): [*P11] The propriety of an investigative stop by a police officer must be viewed in light of the totality of the surrounding circumstances. State v. Bobo (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 177, paragraph one of the syllabus. Officer Hicks testified that he stopped appellee because he suspected the passenger of drug-related activity. His suspicion was heightened by the location of the gas station in a high drug area, and by the early morning hour. Hicks testified that his suspicion of drug-related activity was based upon his observance of the van passenger's actions in waving to females in another car parked in the lot, walking toward that car, and then turning around and going back to the van when he spotted the police car...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 12, 2009 (boomark / email).