People v. Mayes

• Decision Date: 10 November 1982
• Citation: 456 N.Y.S.2d 531,90 A.D.2d 879
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Keith A. MAYES, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 531

456 N.Y.S.2d 531

90 A.D.2d 879

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Keith A. MAYES, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Department.

Nov. 10, 1982.

Douglas P. Rutnik, Albany County Public Defender, Albany (Shawn D. Flaherty, Albany, of counsel), for appellant.

Sol Greenberg, Albany County Dist. Atty., Albany (F. Patrick Jeffers, Albany, of counsel), for respondent.

Before KANE, J.P., and MAIN, CASEY, WEISS and LEVINE, JJ.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Albany County, rendered October 20, 1980, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of robbery in the second degree.

Defendant's principal assignment of error on this appeal is the denial of his motion to suppress, which in turn hinges on the validity of his arrest. The victim of this street mugging promptly reported when and where it took place and that she had been attacked and her purse stolen by two black males, one wearing a tan jacket, the other dressed in a three-quarter length black coat. Albany police headquarters immediately broadcast a report over police radio giving the location of the crime and a description of the perpetrators, but omitting any mention that one of the two males was wearing a dark coat. There was testimony by Officer Sagendorf, who made the arrest, that he heard the report over the police radio, drove to the scene and walked a short distance therefrom when he saw something blowing in the wind around a corner of a building. Upon approaching the building, he observed a black male (defendant) wearing a black coat looking around the corner of the building. He further testified that when defendant saw him approach, he fled and Sagendorf pursued. At that point, a second fleeing black male came into the officer's view, whose physical appearance and clothing closely matched the police radio description of one of the assailants. The officer drew his service revolver, identified himself as a policeman and ordered both men to stop; however, only defendant did so. Officer Sagendorf, having knowledge that criminal activity committed by two black males had just taken place in the immediate vicinity, had the right to attempt an investigative stop when he observed defendant looking furtively around the building and then running away to avoid a confrontation (People v. Brnja, 50 N.Y.2d 366, 372, 429 N.Y.S.2d 173, 406 N.E.2d 1066; People v. Spivey, 46 N.Y.2d 1014, 1016, 416 N.Y.S.2d 534, 389 N.E.2d 1056; People v. De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210, 220, 386 N.Y.S.2d 375, 352 N.E.2d 562). Defendant's continued flight, now with a second black male whose appearance dove-tailed with the radio description of one of the perpetrators, together with the previously alluded to factors, cumulatively furnished probable cause for the arrest (Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419; Sibron [Peters] v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917; United States v. Vasquez, 534...