IL: Def stopped when he saw police lights but encounter was consensual and initiated by community caretaking function

Defendant pulled over because a police car fast approached him from behind, and the officer pulled in behind and turned on his take down light, they both stopped, and the officer walked up to the car with a flashlight in hand and leaned in the window. This was not a seizure under Illinois case law. Instead, the court finds this consensual and the encounter was justified by the community caretaking function. People v. Biagi, 2017 IL App (5th) 150244, 2017 Ill. App. LEXIS 1 (Jan. 5, 2017)*:

Here, the circuit court found that “the trooper activated his ‘take down’ lights, being white lights to illuminate the area, and exited his vehicle. These [a]ctions would be seen by the [d]efendant as a command to stay put. Therefore, [the] [d]efendant was detained by the trooper.” The defendant argues that the circuit court’s ruling should be affirmed because a reasonable person in these circumstances would not have felt free to leave. We disagree because this argument and the findings of the circuit court directly contradict established case law.

. . .

In summary, there was no coercive behavior by Williams, nor any threat thereof, nor was there any physical force or show of authority to restrain the defendant’s liberty. See Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d at 554-58. For these reasons, we find the encounter between the defendant and Williams—prior to Williams’s observation of signs that the defendant was under the influence—was consensual and not a seizure, thereby rendering inapplicable any fourth amendment implications. As a result, the circuit court erred by finding that a seizure had occurred and by granting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence on that basis. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the circuit court’s order that granted the defendant’s motion to suppress.

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