People v. Lopez, 996 N.E.2d 212

At 1:30 a.m., two plainclothes Chicago officers in an unmarked car responded to an anonymous tip about a suspicious green pickup parked in a through-alley behind 4225 W. 24th Place; the truck was running and positioned partly on a garage apron and partly in the alley, obstructing the alley.
Officers approached the truck on foot from opposite sides; defendant, seated in the driver’s seat, turned the engine off when approached.
Officer Salgado asked for defendant’s driver’s license and what he was doing there; defendant produced a state ID and admitted to drinking; officer then ordered him out, he stumbled and returned to the truck; later field sobriety and breath tests followed and defendant was charged with aggravated DUI.
Defendant moved to quash arrest and suppress evidence, arguing the initial approach constituted a Fourth Amendment seizure; the trial court granted the motion and denied the State’s motion to reconsider.
The State appealed, arguing the initial contact was a consensual encounter (no seizure) and that officers had probable cause/reasonable suspicion based on blocking the alley and other observations.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a person sitting in a stationary vehicle is "seized" when two officers approach on foot from opposite sides and ask for ID, absent weapons display, physical force, blocking, or coercive tone	The encounter was consensual; asking for ID and questions did not constitute a seizure, and officers later acquired probable cause	The approach by two officers on opposite sides was an assertion of authority amounting to a seizure before probable cause existed	The initial contact was a consensual, nonseizure encounter under the Fourth Amendment; trial court’s suppression order reversed and case remanded

People v. Cosby, 231 Ill. 2d 262 (Ill. 2008) (two-officer approach on opposite sides does not automatically make an encounter a seizure)
People v. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d 530 (Ill. 2006) (consensual encounter principles; Mendenhall factors analysis)
Mendenhall v. United States, 446 U.S. 544 (U.S. 1980) (reasonable person test and examples of circumstances indicating a seizure)
Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (U.S. 1991) (free-to-leave/terminate-encounter analysis when person’s movement is otherwise restricted)
People v. Gherna, 203 Ill. 2d 165 (Ill. 2003) (officers positioned to prevent exit may constitute a seizure)
People v. Cash, 396 Ill. App. 3d 931 (Ill. App. Ct. 2009) (contrast case where police conduct, including siren and multiple cars, supported finding of seizure)
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968) (stop-and-frisk/temporary seizure standard)