Torres

facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion”). Police may stop a vehicle if they have

probable cause to believe that the motorist has committed a civil traffic violation.

Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 819 (1996). We have held that Whren

extends to parking violations, and therefore allows an officer to seize the occupants

of an illegally parked vehicle to write a parking ticket. United States v. Choudhry,

461 F.3d 1097, 1101–02 (9th Cir. 2006).

In this case, San Diego police officers approached an illegally parked

vehicle in a red zone with three individuals standing close to the open driver’s

door, with the car lights still on, and ordered them, one of whom was Torres, to

stop. The record reflects that Torres and the two other passengers were the only

people in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle. There is no dispute that the

officers did not know which person was the driver of the illegally parked vehicle,

and the district court determined that all three individuals were “apparent

passengers” of the vehicle. The district court’s finding that Torres was an apparent

passenger of the vehicle was not clearly erroneous given that Torres was in the

…