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S.D.Ill.: A motorist can't ignore blue lights, so he was stopped

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s car was parked, and the police pulled up with blue lights on. “The Illinois Rules of the Road do not permit motorists to disregard police lights or emergency vehicles,” so he was stopped, and it was without reasonable suspicion. United States v. Windom, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114650 (S.D. Ill. October 28, 2010): When the Tahoe (lights ablaze) zipped up and parked in front of Windom’s car (with the law enforcement vehicle parked at an angle facing Windom’s car on the “wrong side of the street,” partially blocking the street) and two officers hopped out and approached Windom’s vehicle, a reasonable person in Windom's shoes would not have felt free to ignore the officers, drive off, “decline the officers’ requests or otherwise terminate the encounter...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 31, 2010 (boomark / email).