State v. Hornsby, Unpublished Decision (2-22-2000)
State v. Hornsby, Unpublished Decision (2-22-2000)
Opinion of the Court
On June 22, 1998, Officer Mike Hackman of the Miami Township Police received a dispatch from his department describing a white pickup truck driving erratically on eastbound State Route 28 in Miami Township, Clermont County, Ohio. Officer Hackman received the dispatch while on patrol in Miami Township. The dispatch indicated that the information was being provided by an unidentified citizen via cell phone. Officer Hackman responded to the dispatch and set out in pursuit of the vehicle, following State Route 28 out of Miami Township into Goshen Township.
He first made visual contact with the truck as it turned north onto State Route 48 in Goshen Township. Officer Hackman followed the truck, and observed the vehicle cross the centerline of the roadway on at least two occasions. He continued following the truck, waiting for a Goshen Township police officer to appear and initiate a stop. From radio traffic, Officer Hackman knew that Goshen Township officers were responding to the scene. However, before a Goshen Township officer arrived, the truck pulled into a private lane. Officer Hackman pulled in behind the truck and activated his emergency lights.
Within moments, Officer David Perkins of the Goshen Township Police Department arrived at the scene. Officer Perkins performed field sobriety tests on appellant, and subsequently arrested him for driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI"), in violation of R.C.
On August 26, 1998, appellant waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was bound over to the Clermont County grand jury. Appellant was indicted on September 16, 1998. On November 12, 1998 appellant filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that Officer Hackman was not authorized to make a stop outside the jurisdiction of Miami Township pursuant to R.C.
Appellant entered a written plea of no contest on April 8, 1999. He was found guilty of the charge and sentenced accordingly. Appellant appeals the trial court's decision raising the following assignment of error:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY FAILING TO DISMISS THE CHARGE OF VIOLATING R.C.
4511.19 .
Appellant first contends that the charges against him must be dismissed because Officer Hackman was not authorized under R.C.
R.C.
However, under R.C.
It is well-settled that a police officer has authority to pursue, stop and detain a suspected intoxicated driver under R.C.
In the alternative, appellant argues that neither the first nor the second criteria of R.C.
In City of Cleveland Heights v. Richardson (May 7, 1981), Cuyahoga App. No. 42856, unreported, the Eighth Appellate District examined the criteria of R.C.
The appellate court found that pursuit was initiated within South Euclid when the officer responded to the anonymous tip, and that the pursuit began without delay, in spite of the fact that the police officer did not observe the vehicle until in a neighboring jurisdiction. Richardson at *4. The court further found that the South Euclid officer did not intend to arrest the driver, but rather to detain him until a Cleveland Heights officer arrived. Id. As DUI is an offense for which points are chargeable under R.C. 4507, the court concluded that the actions of the South Euclid officer who detained the driver satisfied the requirements of R.C.
This court adopted the reasoning of the Richardson decision in State v. Tissandier (Nov. 2, 1998), Clinton App. No. CA98-06-017, unreported. In Tissandier, the New Vienna police received an anonymous tip about a possibly intoxicated person who was being disruptive at a gas station in New Vienna. Upon arriving at the gas station, the responding New Vienna police officer observed the suspect drive away at a high rate of speed. Immediately thereafter, the police officer followed the driver into Clinton County, outside the New Vienna jurisdiction. The police officer eventually stopped and detained the driver until a Clinton County police officer arrived and arrested the driver for DUI.
Applying the reasoning of the Richardson decision, this court upheld the conviction. The court found that the New Vienna police officer's pursuit began at the moment the police officer responded to the anonymous tip. As pursuit began within the responding police officer's jurisdiction and without delay, this court found that the driver was validly detained pursuant to R.C.
Following the reasoning of this court in Tissandier and the Eighth Appellate District in Richardson, we find that Officer Hackman initiated pursuit when he responded to the dispatch indicating appellant's erratic driving. His pursuit began without delay within his jurisdiction and continued into a neighboring jurisdiction. Appellant was pursued on suspicion of DUI, a traffic offense for which points are chargeable under
A police officer may stop and detain a motorist outside the officer's jurisdiction when an officer receives a report of erratic driving by a suspect within the officer's jurisdiction and the officer initiates pursuit without delay from within his jurisdiction. Richards at *4. This is true even if the police officer does not first observe the offender until in a neighboring jurisdiction.1 The assignment of error is overruled.
YOUNG, P.J., and VALEN, J., concur.
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