State v. Nicholas Fex, 2010AP1794-CR, District 1, 2/23/11
court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Fex: Wendy A. Patrickus; case activity
Reasonable suspicion supported stop of only car seen leaving bar parking lot, at high rate of speed, following report of fight at the bar.
¶8 Based on the totality of the circumstances, we agree with the trial court that the high rate of speed at which Fex left the bar together with the officers’ knowledge that a fight had been reported at that bar, gave the officers enough reasonable suspicion to pull Fex over to determine whether he was involved in the bar fight. Officer Licht testified that in his experience, the manner in which Fex exited the parking lot was consistent with that of people fleeing bar fights but not with people merely leaving after spending time at a bar. Further, that Fex’s vehicle was the only vehicle leaving the parking lot and the only one on the road at close to 2:00 a.m., in combination with the factors already stated, gave the officers reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle to inquire about the fight. See Allen, 226 Wis. 2d at 74-75 (“[T]he time of day is another factor in the totality of the circumstances equation.”). As our supreme court noted, “[t]he building blocks of fact accumulate. And as they accumulate, reasonable inferences about the cumulative effect can be drawn.” Post, 301 Wis. 2d 1, ¶16 (citation omitted).
