Case Name: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Danny MATOS
Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 1993-07-02
Citations: 427 Pa. Super. 43
Docket Number: Appeal No. 00358
Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Danny MATOS.
Judges: Before CAVANAUGH, WIEAND, McEWEN, CIRILLO, DEL SOLE, BECK, TAMILIA, JOHNSON and HUDOCK, JJ.
Reporter: Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports
Volume: 427
Pages: 43–45

Head Matter:
628 A.2d 419
COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Danny MATOS.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued April 19, 1993.
Filed July 2, 1993.
Hugh J. Burns, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for the Com. appellant.
Paul M. George, Asst. Public Defender, Philadelphia, for appellee.
Before CAVANAUGH, WIEAND, McEWEN, CIRILLO, DEL SOLE, BECK, TAMILIA, JOHNSON and HUDOCK, JJ.

Opinion:
CIRILLO, Judge:
This is an appeal by the Commonwealth from a post-trial order by the Court of Common Pleas suppressing the intro duction of seventeen vials of cocaine at the trial of Danny Matos. We reverse.
Two police officers responding to a radio broadcast that unknown persons were selling narcotics in the vicinity of 2300 Reese Street, Philadelphia, approached a group of three men who fled as the officers approached. During the chase one of the officers saw Matos discard a plastic bag. One officer recovered the plastic bag and the other officer arrested Matos. The bag contained twelve vials of cocaine; another five vials of cocaine were found in Matos's pocket.
This is a companion case to Commonwealth v. Carroll, — Pa.Super. -, 628 A.2d 398 (1993), decided this day, and raises the same issue: whether Pennsylvania's constitution demands greater protection for a fleeing suspect than that afforded by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution after the decision of California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991).
For the reasons detailed in Commonwealth v. Carroll, supra, we find that the protections under the state and federal, constitutions are coextensive.
Order reversed.
. The Commonwealth has certified that the suppression substantially handicaps the prosecution. Commonwealth v. Dugger, 506 Pa. 537, 486 A.2d 382 (1985).