Charges dropped over improper traffic stop

An appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to dismiss a weapon charge against a defendant because of an improper search.

In January, state Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller granted a motion to suppress evidence in the case of Limmia Page, who had been charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office appealed the ruling and, in a decision released Friday, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department, unanimously upheld Boller’s ruling and dismissed the indictment against Page.

A marine interdiction agent with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, who was also a deputized task force officer with the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, was driving on a state highway in Erie County in an unmarked truck when he saw a vehicle “engaging in dangerous maneuvers and allegedly committing several violations of the Vehicle and Traffic Law,” according to the decision.

The agent was not able to reach State Police using a radio in his truck, so he called 911 and continued to follow the car.

The agent turned on his truck’s emergency lights to stop the vehicle, and the vehicle pulled over. The agent reported the vehicle’s license plate and location to the Buffalo Police Department dispatcher.

After a Buffalo Police officer arrived, the agent and the officer approached the car together and the police officer spoke to the occupants of the vehicle, who included Page.

After more Buffalo Police officers arrived, the agent was told he was no longer needed, and he left.

A firearm was seized from the car and Page and two other defendants were charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

After a suppression hearing, Boller granted part of a defense motion to suppress evidence seized in the traffic stop.

Boller ruled that the agent had the powers of a peace officer, but the traffic stop was not legal because the agent “was not acting pursuant to his special duties or within his geographical area of employment.”

The traffic stop also could not be justified as a valid citizen’s arrest because the agent had the powers of a peace officer and activated emergency lights and approached the stopped vehicle with a Buffalo Police officer “and therefore acted under color of law and with the accouterments of official authority rather than as a private citizen.”

The Fourth Department panel noted in the decision that the agent reported the incident to the police and activated emergency lights on his truck to stop the vehicle.

“A private person, however, is not authorized to display such emergency lights from his or her private vehicle,” the panel wrote.

Likewise, the agent was not acting as a private person when he approached the vehicle with the Buffalo Police officer.

“We therefore conclude that, even if the agent is not afforded the status of a peace officer or the powers thereof under state law, the traffic stop of the vehicle cannot be validated as a citizen’s arrest under these circumstances,” the panel wrote.

Page was represented by Robert L. Kemp, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.