United States v. Garcia, 751 F.3d 1139

Officer Devos conducted a pat-down of Garcia during a nighttime traffic stop on a sparsely travelled New Mexico street.
The stop followed the arrest of the vehicle’s driver for a suspended license, after which Garcia remained in the passenger seat.
Garcia had a prior violent felony (armed robbery) and drug history known to Devos.
During the inventory of the impounded vehicle, Devos turned his back to Garcia and patted him down for weapons.
Garcia admitted pulling out a gun clip magazine, which contained seven .380 cartridges, leading to his later arrest for felon in possession of ammunition.
The district court held the pat-down was justified by reasonable suspicion; Garcia pleaded guilty conditioned on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether there was reasonable suspicion to justify the pat-down	Garcia argues no credible armed-and-dangerous basis	Garcia’s conduct and history supported safety concerns	Yes, reasonable suspicion existed

United States v. Rice, 483 F.3d 1079 (10th Cir. 2007) (armed-and-dangerous requirement for pat-downs and its conjunctive standard)
United States v. McRae, 81 F.3d 1528 (10th Cir. 1996) (safety concern justifies frisk when alone and isolated; back-turn risk)
United States v. Manjarrez, 348 F.3d 881 (10th Cir. 2003) (safety concerns with inventory searches when officer is alone)
United States v. Sanchez, 519 F.3d 1208 (10th Cir. 2008) (prior aggressive conduct informs reasonable suspicion)
United States v. Garcia, 459 F.3d 1059 (10th Cir. 2006) (drug history can contribute to suspicion of armed and dangerous)
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (police may frisk if reasonably believed suspect is armed and dangerous)