People v. Richey CA3

BACKGROUND

Defendant moved to suppress the evidence against him pursuant to section 1538.5. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Detective David Gutierrez of the Citrus Heights Police Department testified that he was driving through a high crime neighborhood with his partners, Detectives Joe Davis and Daniel Hefner, at approximately 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of August 8, 2012. The three detectives were wearing plain clothes and driving an unmarked van. Detective Gutierrez was riding in the front passenger seat. As they turned onto the residential street known as Treeleaf Way, Detective Gutierrez observed defendant riding his bicycle down the street in the opposite direction. Detective Gutierrez noticed that defendant appeared to be staring at them. At the hearing, the parties stipulated that Detective Hefner, who was driving the van, had pulled his shirt up over his nose.2 After passing defendant on the street, Detective Gutierrez turned around and watched as defendant, still keeping an eye on the unmarked van, nearly crashed his bicycle in the middle of the street. The detectives did not stop, but continued driving in the direction of their destination, a suspected drug…