Opinion
April 21, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Richard B. Lowe, III, J.).
In light of the apprehending officers' knowledge of armed robberies committed in the vicinity by suspects fitting the general description of defendant and his companions, the officers entertained a reasonable suspicion that a crime was about to be committed (People v De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210, 223). Defendant acted suspiciously in travelling an aimless path through the streets of lower Manhattan with two associates, scrutinizing Asian passersby. The observation of a gun in the waistband of one of defendant's companions justified the officers' suspicion that their physical safety was endangered so as to implicate the corollary statutory right to frisk the suspects for weapons (CPL 140.50; People v Benjamin, 51 N.Y.2d 267, 271; compare, People v Howard, 50 N.Y.2d 583, 590, cert denied 449 U.S. 1023).
Concur — Wallach, J.P., Ross, Rubin, Nardelli and Williams, JJ.