PA Superior Court: Unprovoked Flight in High Crime Area Still Justifies Stop of Suspect
Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esquire
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Barnes, holding that unprovoked flight in a high crime area justifies the detention of the person fleeing even if the police do not make any other observations of criminal activity. This is true even if the police observe no other factors that could give rise to reasonable suspicion - unprovoked flight and a high crime area, with nothing more, is enough for the police to stop someone and potentially frisk them.
The Facts of Barnes
In Barnes, the police were traveling in a police car at an intersection in a high crime area. The police department considered the area to be so bad that they routinely had a police car simply park at that corner at all times in order to try to prevent crime. The officers were driving in the area when they observed a group of about five or six people on the northeast corner of 8th and Clearfield. The group began to scatter as the police approached, and each member began walking in a different direction.
The defendant began walking southbound towards the patrol car with at least one other male. One of the officers got out of the car and turned his flash light on. The defendant then ran. The officers chased him, and the defendant eventually tripped and fell. The officers caught him, saw that he had a fanny pack, and they started to frisk the fanny pack. They asked if he had a gun in it, and he said yes. They found a gun in the fanny pack. The defendant then said he was on probation and did not have a license to carry.
The Motion to Suppress
The trial court granted the defendant’s motion to suppress, finding that police stopped him without reasonable suspicion or probable cause because they observed nothing more than flight in a high crime area. The court reasoned that because the police had no specific information about the defendant, did not see any criminal activity, and were not responding to any kind of radio or 911 call, they had no reason to stop the defendant. Therefore, the court suppressed the gun, and the Commonwealth appealed.
The Superior Court Appeal
The Superior Court promptly reversed the suppression order. The court noted that the case law has long held that unprovoked flight from police in a high crime area justifies an investigative detention of the suspect. Therefore, the police were allowed to chase the defendant and try to figure out why he ran away from them for seemingly no reason. Mere presence in a high crime area alone does not justify a stop, but when that presence is coupled with unprovoked flight, the police may investigate. There is no requirement that the police see specific criminal activity or receive a 911 call directing them to stop the defendant.
As the defendant had fled for no reason and had a bag which could have contained a gun, the police were then justified in asking if the bag had a gun in it. The court ruled that the police had not actually arrested the defendant before finding the gun - they had just tried to stop him to figure out what was going on. Therefore, the Superior Court reversed the order granting the motion to suppress and remanded the case for trial. The defendant will now face trial on the firearms charges.
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Goldstein Mehta LLC Criminal Defense Attorneys
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