Opinion
January 14, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Balbach, J.).
Judgment affirmed.
Defendant was walking at 4:45 A.M. in a neighborhood known for its high rate of burglaries, carrying two large plastic garbage bags which appeared to contain large bulky items. These circumstances justified the officers' initial approach and limited detention of the defendant for the purpose of inquiry ( People v. Moore, 47 N.Y.2d 911, revg 62 A.D.2d 155; People v. De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210, 213, 223). When defendant voluntarily placed the bags by his side, the officer was able to observe a stereo and a briefcase with a calculator protruding from inside the unclosed bags. Defendant's implausible response that the items were connected to his construction business and his inability to even state what was contained in the bags elevated the encounter to one which would support the finding of probable cause for an arrest and limited search for weapons. The facts of this case are distinguishable from those in the recent Court of Appeals case of People v. Johnson ( 64 N.Y.2d 617). Accordingly the branch of defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress physical evidence was properly denied. In light of this determination and defendant's statement on appeal that, should this court make such a determination, he does not seek to vacate his plea, we need not reach the question of the admissibility of the statements made to the police officers. Lazer, J.P., Bracken, Rubin and Eiber, JJ., concur.