Defendant was stopped for mere traffic offenses, so a search incident would be invalid under Gant. Nevertheless, the vehicle was properly subjected to an inventory even though it was not towed. The police started to tow it because defendant had a suspended DL, but he prevailed upon the officers not to tow it and, instead, move it to his grandmother\u2019s house because he needed it for work. So, they helped move the car there. Still, it was subject to an inventory for weapons for safety purposes. United States v. Watson, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52371 (S.D. Ill. May 17, 2011):<\/p>\n
Thus, the officers established that it is their policy and routine to conduct inventory searches in circumstances such as those they faced in this case. In light of this policy, it is evident that a lawful inventory search hypothetically could have occurred at two different junctures of the arrest process, had the search not been performed directly after defendant’s arrest. Police would have searched the vehicle before moving it off the busy street, and they would have searched the vehicle before driving it to defendant’s grandmothers’ home. Furthermore, the Court FINDS that this type of search, which could be conducted for legitimate officer safety reasons, would have been reasonable in this case. Thus, under the inevitable discovery doctrine, the evidence still would have been found, and the evidence found during the search will not be suppressed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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