Opinion ID: 3062766
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: June 3, 2002 Traffic Stop and Van Search

Text: In the early morning of June 3, 2002, Officer Wilson of the City of Parker, Florida Police Department saw a man, later identified as Pair, loading a box into a white van from the front door of a closed bar. Concerned about a possible theft, Officer Wilson conducted a traffic stop of the van, observed an open container of alcohol on the van’s center console, and asked Pair to get out of the van. Pair said he was in a band and that the box contained some of his equipment, but denied Officer Wilson’s request to search the van. Officer Wilson called for a K-9 unit and began writing Pair a citation for the open container. The bar’s owner arrived and told Officer Wilson that Pair was “with her.” Wilson ordered the woman away from the scene for safety reasons and continued writing the citation. A few minutes later, as Officer Wilson completed the citation, the K-9 unit arrived. The dog walked around the outside of the van and alerted for narcotics. A subsequent search of the van revealed some baggies, empty ephedrine 2 bottles, an electronic scale and a bottle of butane, all of which Officer Wilson seized and sent for testing at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (“FDLE”) crime lab. Pair was issued an open container citation and allowed to leave.