Inventory Search Illegally Parked Car Private Property

At approximately 2:00 a.m., San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Daniel Peterson noticed the license plate on Jonathan Anderson’s truck was partially obscured in violation of California Vehicle Code § 5201, so he initiated a traffic stop.

According to Deputy Peterson, after he activated his overhead red and blue flashing lights, Mr. Anderson turned into a dead-end street and accelerated to the end of the road, pulled into the driveway of a home and got out of the truck.  He threw his keys to his side in the grass.

Deputy Peterson believed that Anderson was attempting to flee, so he confronted him at gunpoint.  He instructed Peterson to turn around, put his hands on his head and kneel down.

Anderson complied with the command, repeatedly asked why he was pulled over.  Meanwhile, Deputy Kyle Schuler arrived on scene because Deputy Anderson had requested back up when he thought Anderson was attempting to flee. 

Anderson told deputies that he was parked in the driveway of a friend, that he had not seen the police officer’s overhead flashing lights and that he was not from the area.  He also told officers that his driver’s license was expired.

Anderson radioed back to dispatch, who ran a background check on Anderson, confirming that Anderson had an expired driver’s license and was a career criminal.

According to Anderson, Deputy Peterson then began searching the truck.  Anderson told the deputy he did not have permission to search the truck, to which the deputies responded that they were going to tow the truck because it did not have a valid license plate and they were, accordingly, performing just an administrative inventory search.

The deputies then talked to the homeowner whose driveway Anderson parked on and the homeowner said he did not know Anderson at all and wanted the truck removed from his driveway.

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Manual, which provides for the procedures to be followed during an inventory search, the officer must fill out two (2) CHP 180 Forms and contain the signature, date and time of arrival of the tow truck driver.  Deputy Schuler completed the form for the most part, including an inspection of the outside of the car, noting certain scratches and dents in the truck, but left out certain property found in the inside of the car such as a bottle of cologne, a toolbox and two pairs of sunglasses.  He did get the tow truck driver’s signature.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Anderson in federal court with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).

Anderson moved to suppress evidence of the firearm on grounds that the inventory search was unconstitutional.  First, he claimed that the deputies lacked a valid “community caretaking purpose” when they conducted the search.  Second, he claimed they improperly impounded the truck.  Third, he claimed the inventory search was invalid because officers did not follow San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department procedures.

The District Court denied Anderson’s motion and Anderson appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena, which affirmed the trial court.

The Ninth Circuit explained that once a vehicle had been impounded for a valid community caretaking purpose (such as removing the truck from a private driveway upon the homeowner’s request), police may conduct an inventory search if it conforms to standard department procedures and is conducted in good faith.

Although California law authorizes impoundment of a vehicle when a driver does not have a valid driver’s license, police must have an objectively reasonable belief that the vehicle is parked illegally, posed a safety hazard, or was vulnerable to vandalism or theft to establish a community caretaking exception purpose that satisfies the Fourth Amendment.

Here, Anderson parked his car in a private driveway, but the homeowner did not know Anderson and wanted the truck removed from his property.  Moreover, Anderson did not have a valid driver’s license and was not from the area, so there was no one to call to remove the truck.

Thus, Anderson’s truck was properly impounded for a valid community caretaking purpose and the inventory search was proper.

For more information about an inventory search by police, please click on the following articles: