We conclude that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to stop. We therefore reverse the judgment and remand with directions to grant Fields' suppression motion. At the suppression hearing officer Alphian Metoxen testified that he was on patrol in a marked squad car. Just before midnight he was driving southbound on Van Boxtel Road approaching the intersection with Ranch Road. Van Boxtel has stop signs at the intersection for both northbound and southbound traffic.
Ranch has no stop signs.
The intersection is located in a rural area. When Metoxen was fifty to seventy yards from the intersection, he noticed a northbound vehicle stopped at the stop sign on Van Boxtel. He did not recall if the vehicle had a turn signal flashing. There was no other traffic. After Metoxen stopped at the stop sign for southbound traffic, the northbound vehicle stayed stopped for five to ten seconds.