Court Opinion

ID: 9607801
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:02:05.107285+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:40.474656
License: Public Domain

ERICKSON, Justice,
specially concurring:
I specially concur in the reversal of the suppression order. In my view, the totality of the circumstances, as reflected in the record of the suppression hearing, create an articulable and reasonable suspicion that the defendants were involved in criminal activity and support the initial stop that led to the arrest of the defendants. People v. Savage, 698 P.2d 1330 (Colo.1985); Stone v. People, 174 Colo. 504, 485 P.2d 495 (1971).
The defendants were first seen approximately one minute after the burglary was reported and within one block of the scene of the crime. Their car was heading away from the crime in a residential area that had little traffic. The evasive action that was taken by the driver in making frequent turns and periodically accelerating, coupled with the report of the burglary, provided ground for an investigatory stop. See Peo-*647pie v. Thomas, 660 P.2d 1272 (1983). After the car was stopped, the officers articulated suspicion rose to probable cause to arrest by the observation of the burglary tools and the woman’s gold watch. See, e.g., People v. Bell, 698 P.2d 269 (Colo. 1985).
The fact that the defendants were his-panics in a predominately white, middle class neighborhood was but one factor in the totality of the circumstantial evidence that supported the initial stop. In People v. Smith, 620 P.2d 232 (Colo.1980), a Taco John’s restaurant in Longmont was robbed and a black male was reported to be the robber. The arresting officer stated that few blacks lived in Longmont. However, his observation of a black in the car leaving the scene of the crime coupled with other circumstances justified the investigatory stop that resulted in an arrest based upon probable cause. Id. at 235-36 n. 5. See also People v. Johnson, 605 P.2d 46 (Colo. 1980).
The relevant inquiry is whether the specific and articulable facts and permissible inferences under the totality of the circumstances creates a reasonable suspicion to support the stop. In this case, the totality of the circumstances supported the investigatory stop that resulted in probable cause for the arrest and for that reason I concur in the reversal of the suppression order.