Callahan

Michael V., a 17-year-old minor, appeals from an order of the juvenile court finding that he is a person described in section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code 1 and adjudging him a ward of the court (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 725, subd. (b)) by reason of his having violated section 11910 (now § 11377) of the Health and Safety Code (unlawful possession of restricted dangerous drugs). He challenges the above finding and his resultant commitment on the ground that the jurisdictional determination under section 602 was based on evidence obtained by an illegal search of his person. We conclude that this contention is without merit, and therefore affirm the order.

*680 On an evening in June 1971, two patrolling Alameda County sheriff’s officers heard what sounded like a small caliber gunshot coming from the vicinity of a nearby shopping center and, fearing a robbery, drove into the parking lot at one end of the center. After scanning the stores in the area and finding nothing unusual, they observed four male youths sitting near a fence that enclosed the lot. From their car the officers asked the boys if they had heard a loud noise. The boys replied affirmatively and…

I dissent. I cannot agree that the evidence relied upon to establish the jurisdiction of the juvenile court over appellant was lawfully obtained. On the contrary, the record before us clearly shows that appellant was the subject of an illegal search at the hands of the sheriffs officers and that the evidence thereby seized—a bottle of secobarbital pills —should have been excluded as the fruit of such search.

Preliminarily I point out a few facts in addition to those set forth in the majority opinion. When in response to the summoning of the officers the boys approached the patrol car, the officers declared “Okay, boys, why don’t you empty your pockets on the car?” in an effort to “see if they had any contraband or fireworks.” Three of the youths began to comply, but appellant took flight. Pursued by one of the officers, he leaped over the fence. As he landed on the other side, the officer seized his arm. Appellant wrenched himself free but was soon caught, subdued, and handcuffed. The officers hauled appellant back across the fence, informed him that he was under arrest for “resisting” (Pen. Code, § 148), and searched him. They found in his pocket a bottle of 28 secobarbital…