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Frazer v. State12/23/2002
AFFIRMED
John Frazer was found guilty in a bench trial of violation of the Arkansas Implied Consent Law and fined $150; the trial judge found him not guilty of driving while intoxicated. On appeal, Frazer argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence obtained by a Springdale police officer who stopped his car in Fayetteville because the arresting officer lacked probable cause to stop and arrest him outside the officer's territorial jurisdiction, and the officer was not in "fresh pursuit" of him when the traffic stop was made. We affirm Frazer's conviction.
Larry Paul Davis, a night pharmacist for a Walgreens drug store in Springdale, testified that he was working on the night of November 13, 2000, and he waited on appellant and a passenger at the drive-thru window. Although Davis only observed appellant and his passenger through the drive-thru window, he stated that appellant's behavior was such that Davis believed he was under the influence of either drugs and/or alcohol, and Davis was concerned that the potential for an accident was present. Based upon these concerns, Davis observed the make of the vehicle appellant was driving and wrote down the license-plate number. Davis then called the Springdale Police Department to report his concerns that appellant was intoxicated based upon the observations he had made at the drive-thru window. He gave the police dispatcher his name, address, telephone number, and his place of employment. He also provided a description of the vehicle and the license-plate number.
Teresa Atwell, a dispatcher for the Springdale Police Department, testified that she dispatched police officers to respond to the reported DWI driver. She said that the caller identified himself and gave a general description of the vehicle. She dispatched the color of the car, the personalized license plate, the fact that the car was leaving Walgreens, and that it was possibly headed for Fayetteville. Although she said that she did not know who the caller was, Atwell testified that the call-taker knew.
Officer Jimmy Chatfield, a police officer with the Springdale Police Department, testified that he received the information from dispatch regarding the make and color of the vehicle, as well as the license-plate number, and that he responded to the call because he was approximately one-quarter of a mile from the Walgreens store. Chatfield traveled to the Fayetteville city limits, turned around, and began checking traffic traveling toward Fayetteville. He located the car in question, a red Honda, in the Springdale city limits traveling toward Fayetteville, and he turned around and followed it, eventually catching up with the vehicle at the Fayetteville-Springdale city limits. He verified that the license-plate number was the same that had been reported. Chatfield said that he did not initiate a traffic stop until he was within the Fayetteville city limits, and that he only stopped the car after he was notified that it was a confirmed car, which meant that the caller had identified himself and an officer was being sent to his location to speak with him. Chatfield said that he did not witness any errant driving on appellant's part; he stopped him only on the basis of the report from the citizen-informant. After stopping appellant, Chatfield gave him field-sobriety tests, which he failed; Chatfield then arrested appellant for DWI and transported him to the Springdale Police Department, where appellant refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. It must first be determined whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop appellant's car based upon the tip that Davis provided to the police department. Upon review of a trial court's denial of a motion to suppres
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