People v. Colyar 

Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Search and Seizure
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 1-09-0323
Decision Date: 
Thursday, December 30, 2010
District: 
1st Dist.
Division/County: 
Cook Co., 6th Div.
Holding: 
Affirmed.
Justice: 
GARCIA
Police officers, who observed a car in motel parking lot with its engine running, noticed a bullet sticking up in a plastic bag on the center console. Officers immediately removed occupants from vehicle, handcuffed them, and placed each in custody without determining whether bullet was evidence of a crime, and without making inquiry of whether occupants had a FOID card or were convicted felons. Officers improperly escalated the investigative stop into a full arrest of the Defendant and then engaged in search of vehicle as incident to the arrest; thus, court properly granted Defendant's motion to suppress the bullets and gun unlawfully seized by the police. (HALL, concurring; LAMPKIN, dissenting.)