State v. Abraham

FERGUSON, Judge.

A plainclothed City of Miami police officer, with nine years experience in investigating robberies, observed the defendant running for several city blocks carrying three large shopping bags and continuously looking back over his shoulder. The time was 9:00 p.m. when stores in the immediate area had closed, and the location was a high-crime downtown shopping section of the city.

The single issue we address is whether there were sufficient facts to justify a stop based on a reasonable belief that the defendant had committed, was committing, or was about to commit a criminal…