D.Alaska: Officers obviously had RS

“Under these circumstances, the Court has no difficulty finding that this investigatory stop was supported by particularized and objective facts that support a reasonable suspicion that Gruben and his associates recently had engaged in unlawful drug related activity.” United States v. Gruben, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105001 (D.Alaska June 10, 2016)*:

In this case, the officers credibly testified to particularized and objective facts that establish reasonable suspicion for this investigatory stop. First, the officers watched while a rented pickup truck containing Gruben and his companions stopped at the home of a known heroin dealer. Second, the officers knew from their experience that people engaged in drug trafficking activity sometimes use rental vehicles to hinder police efforts to identify drug traffickers. Third, when the truck departed from the known heroin dealer’s residence, the driver performed a “heat check,” which is a term used to describe counter-surveillance driving behaviors designed to determine whether law enforcement was following. Fourth, Gruben and his two companions appeared to react to a marked police car parked purposely next to the light silver pickup truck after they entered the Arby’s Restaurant. The woman remained in the women’s restroom for 20 minutes, causing an undercover officer in the restaurant to suspect she was disposing of drugs. The officer then followed Gruben into the men’s room, saw him stand facing the toilet in a closed stall as he repeatedly flushed the toilet, and the officer then recovered a digital scale abandoned by Gruben in the restroom that tested presumptively positive for heroin or opiates. The officers next watched as the three shopped aimlessly for an hour at a nearby Target store. During this time, Gruben left the store, apparently to survey the parking lot, conduct the officers believed—based on their experience—was consistent with looking for a police presence.