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People v. Smith1/30/2004
lein never testified that defendant would have been permitted to walk from the scene of the traffic stop. Rather, Schnizlein testified that defendant was free to leave, presumably by any legal means.
We reject defendant's contention that since defendant was with at least one sober companion, the officer's concern for defendant's safety were he permitted to walk was unreasonable. We do not believe that the younger Reese brother's sobriety should have given Officer Driscoll an assurance that no harm would come to defendant, the older Reese brother, or a motorist if the men were permitted to walk from the scene of the traffic stop. Officer Driscoll had no way of determining whether the younger Reese brother, who had no authority over his older brother or defendant, would or could keep his companions out of harm's way.
Under the facts of this case, the police officers were justified in detaining defendant based on a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was about to occur. In Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889, 88 S. Ct. 1868 (1968), the Supreme Court held that, under appropriate circumstances, a police officer may briefly detain a person for questioning if the officer reasonably believes that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime. Terry, 392 U.S. at 22, 20 L. Ed 2d at 906-07, 88 S. Ct. At 1880-81. In Illinois, the Terry holding has been codified:
"A peace officer, after having identified himself as a peace officer, may stop any person in a public place for a reasonable period of time when the officer reasonably infers from the circumstances that the person is committing, is about to commit or has committed an offense as defined in Section 102-15 of this Code, and may demand the name and address of the person and an explanation of his actions. Such detention and temporary questioning will be conducted in the vicinity of where the person was stopped." (Emphasis added.) 725 ILCS 5/107--14 (West 2002).
Once Officer Driscoll realized that all apparent lawful means for defendant's departure from the roadside had been exhausted, Officer Driscoll had a reasonable suspicion that a violation of section 11--1010 was about to be committed should he drive away and leave defendant behind. Had the police abandoned defendant on the roadside, he would have instantly become a pedestrian who, as we have determined above, likely would have been in violation of section 11--1010. Officer Driscoll's knowledge of these facts gave rise to his duty as law enforcement officer to prevent the men from violating the law by driving the vehicle or walking away from the scene of the traffic stop. See United States v. Feliciano, 45 F.3d 1070 (7th Cir. 1995) (Terry stop and frisk on suspicion that two men were planning a mugging held not to violate fourth amendment); Garner v. City of Chicago, 319 Ill. App. 3d 255, 261-62 (2001); Banks v. City of Chicago, 11 Ill. App. 3d 543, 550 (1973). Officer Driscoll's reasonable suspicion that defendant was about to violate section 11--1010 justified detaining defendant to give him a courtesy ride from the roadside to safety. Under these special circumstances, the fact that the detention was not for the purpose of asking defendant questions did not make the detention illegal. See United States v. Phillips, 664 F.2d 971, 1023 (5th Cir. 1981) (authorizing a noninvestigatory detention of an individual where no questions were asked but, rather, the purpose of the seizure was to protect a fellow law enforcement agent from an apparent imminent physical threat by that individual). Irrespective of the officers' reasonable suspicion that an offense was about to be committed, we believe that under the facts of this case, there was an emergency situa
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