Pine v. Okzewski, 411.

• Decision Date: 19 August 1933
• Docket Number: No. 411.,411.
• Citation: 168 A. 48
• Parties: PINE et al. v. OKZEWSKI et al.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

168 A. 48

PINE et al.

v. OKZEWSKI et al.

No. 411.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Aug. 19, 1933.

Syllabus by the Court.

Plaintiffs, residents of Oklahoma, and students en route to college (Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology), while passing through Jersey City in a 1931 Ford ear (body painted black with green wheels), were chased and stopped by police officers of said city, who were on the lookout for a stolen 1928 Ford car (painted all black). Officers ascertained that the car driven by plaintiffs was not the one stolen. They asked driver for his driver's license and whether they (students) carried deadly weapons. Upon being told that under laws of Oklahoma owner is not required to have driver's license, and that they had no deadly weapons, the officers under point of gun searched their baggage, and, although no weapons were found, took the plaintiffs to the police station where they were kept in restraint for two hours without complaint or warrant, and then were released. Held, on the aforesaid stipulation of facts, there was ample proof before the court, sitting without a jury, to justify the finding that there was no justification for the arrest. Awards of $100 damages to each plaintiff sustained.

Appeal from First District Court of Jersey City.

Suit by Rosweil D. Pine, Jr., and another against Adam Okzewski and another. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, the defendants appeal.

Affirmed.

Argued May term, 1933, before PARKER, LLOYD, and PERSKIE, JJ.

James A. Hamill, of Jersey City, for appellants.

William L. Rae, of Jersey City, for respondents.

PERSKIE, Justice.

This case comes up before us on an appeal from a judgment of $100 rendered to each of the plaintiffs by the judge of the First District Court of Jersey City, sitting without a jury. The facts are fully set forth in the agreed state of the case. They are as follows: On September 18, 1932, the plaintiffs, residents of the state of Oklahoma, were en route from that state to Massachusetts, where one of the plaintiffs, Rosweil D. Pine, Jr., was to attend Harvard Law School, and the other plaintiff, Duff Smith, was to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They were accompanied by another Harvard student, one Wyman Patten. They were passing through Jersey City in a 1931 model Ford coach owned by Smith. The plaintiffs' baggage (grips, valises, and bags) were piled on the rear seat and on the floor of the car. As the automobile was proceeding at the rate of about 30 or 35 miles an hour, and as it traveled the underground cut used principally by automobiles to and from the Holland tunnel, to New York, defendants, police officers of the traffic bureau of the police department, chased after the plaintiffs in an automobile and stopped them. The officers asked them whether they had any guns in their possession and whether they had a driver's license. They were told by the plaintiffs that they did not have any guns in their possession, and that under the laws of Oklahoma it was not necessary for an owner to have a driver's license. The defendants then directed the plaintiffs to open their bags so that they could search for weapons. The bags were opened by Pine and Officer Trigger; the other officer, Okzewski, stood with his hand on his pistol to "cover up," as he expressed it, "his brother officer." The bags were inspected, clothing pulled out, but no firearms were found. Despite this, the plaintiffs were taken to the Oakland Avenue Police Station of Jersey City for further investigation, and there kept in a reserve room where they were told they would have to remain until the investigation was completed. There they remained from 6 o'clock until 8 o'clock in the evening, when a Lieutenant Fox arrived. He examined his records and ascertained that the plaintiffs' explanation as to the laws of Oklahoma in reference to a driver's license was correct. They were then permitted to leave. No charge or complaint of any kind was ever made against them and no warrant issued for their arrest.

The alleged basis for the arrest was that the policemen had been informed by the police teletype system of a stolen 1928 Ford car, black in color. The car plaintiffs were driving was a 1931 Ford car, with black body and green wheels. Following the common-law rule adopted by our state that a peace officer has a right to arrest without warrant one whom he has reasonable cause to suspect of being guilty of a felony (Brown v. State, 62 N. J. Law, 666, 42 A. 811; Collins v. Cody, 95 N. J. Law, 65, 113 A. 709; State v. Genese, 102 N. J. Law, 134, 130 A. 642), the court below, in our opinion, was fully justified in finding that there was no...