People v. Clark CA2/2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

At 11:15 p.m. on August 17, 2019, two officers on patrol saw a BMW sedan drive slowly through a Starbucks parking lot. The windows were illegally tinted. The officers ran a search of the license plate and found that the registration was suspended. The officers then “initiated a traffic stop.” They approached appellant’s parked car from both sides, but the car’s windows remained closed, and the window tint prevented the officers from seeing inside. The officer at the driver’s side repeatedly told appellant to roll down his window. Appellant did not comply and indicated that his window on that side did not roll down. He eventually rolled down the back passenger’s side window two inches. The officer on the passenger’s side noticed the smell of burnt marijuana coming from the car and saw a gun between the center console and appellant’s leg. The officers told appellant to “step out of the car” “more than ten times,” but he refused, and the officers called for a backup unit. Appellant rolled up the window, started his car, and drove away. The officers and the backup unit they had called then pursued appellant in a dangerous four-mile chase…