Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Reasonable Suspicion – ‘Blazing Saddles’ – Drug Transaction Pattern

State v. Crandell (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-193-16, 18 pp.) (Donna Stroud, J.) Appealed from Johnston County Superior Court (Claire Hill, J.) N.C. App.

Holding: The arresting officer saw defendant follow a known pattern: driving into the area adjacent to a partially burned, abandoned building known as “Blazing Saddles” that is known for drug transactions and stolen property deals; spending two minutes there; and driving away. These circumstances and the officer’s knowledge and experience gave him reasonable suspicion to stop defendant.

We affirm the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to suppress.

This case is distinguishable from Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47 (1979), and State v. Fleming, 106 N.C. App. 165, 415 S.E.2d 782 (1992), based on the specific pattern noted above and on the fact that Blazing Saddles was a location with no use or purpose other than criminal activity. It was an abandoned, partially burned building with no electricity, and there was no apparent legal reason for anyone to go there at all.