OPINION
¶ 1 Defendant Jesus Gilbert Valle, Jr., appeals his convictions and sentences on one count of possession of marijuana and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, both class six felonies. Defendant’s sole argument on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the marijuana and rolling papers seized from his person. He maintains that these items were discovered by the police during a “pat down” that exceeded the scope permitted by
Terry v. Ohio,
FACTS
¶ 2 On the evening of July 18, 1997, police officers assigned to the Arizona State Gang Task Force were patrolling the Town of Guadalupe, conducting traffic stops of vehicles in an area known for gang activity. Task Force Officer David Barnes and his partner stopped Defendant’s vehicle upon observing that it had a cracked windshield and that its license plate was not illuminated. In addition to Defendant, who was the driver, the vehicle carried two passengers. After initiating the stop, Officer Barnes noticed that Defendant smelled of marijuana. Offi *326 cer Barnes asked Defendant for his driver’s license and requested that he step out of the car. Once Defendant was standing outside the vehicle, Officer Barnes asked him if he was carrying “any marijuana or contraband.” Defendant replied that he was not.
¶ 3 Officer Barnes then conducted a “pat-down” search of Defendant’s person. Barnes later gave the following justification for the pat-down:
Q: And what was the basis for conducting the pat-down search?
A: Based on the smell of marijuana on him, and also the officer that was with me who had taken a passenger, the front passenger of the vehicle, that officer had found a large amount of marijuana on that passenger.
Q: Was another basis fоr your search to “pat down” for weapons as well?
A: Yes, it was.
Q: And why was that?
A: Guadalupe has been having a problem with gangs. The Sheriffs Office has been having a problem with drive-by shootings, and so it’s basically DPS’s policy that we’ll conduct pat down for weapons and contraband, once we get people out of the vehicles.
¶ 4 During the pat-down, Officer Barnes felt “an object” in the right front pocket of Defendant’s pants. The object did not feel like a weapon or other metal object, and nothing in the reсord suggests that, by touching the object through Defendant’s clothing, Barnes knew that it was contraband. Nevertheless, Officer Barnes reached into Defendant’s pocket and removed the object, which turned out to be a package of Zig Zag rolling papers. After completing the pat-down of Defendant’s clothing, Officer Barnes directed 1 Defendant to remove his shoes. The officer found a small bag of marijuana in one of the shoes.
¶ 5 The State charged Defendant with possession of marijuanа and possession of drug paraphernalia. Defendant moved to suppress both the marijuana and the Zig Zag papers, arguing that the search conducted by Officer Barnes exceeded the scope of the pat-down permitted by Terry v. Ohio. The trial court denied the motion. Defendant waived his right to a jury trial, and the parties submitted the case to the trial court on the police report. Defendant was convicted of both counts, and he timely appealed.
DISCUSSION
¶ 6 In reviewing the denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress, we must defer to the trial court’s factual findings absent an abuse of discretion.
See State v. Peters,
A. The Scope of Terry Patr-Doum Searches
1. The Seizure of the Rolling Papers from Defendant’s Pocket
¶ 7 Defendant concedes that the officers were justified in stopping his vehicle and conducting a pat-down search of the occupants for weapons pursuant to Terry. The sole argument presented on appeal with respect to the rolling papers is that thе officer exceeded the bounds of the Terry pat-down when he placed his hand in Defendant’s pocket and withdrew the rolling papers.
¶ 8 The State argues that Officer Barnes “had probable cause to believe that the object [in Defendant’s pocket] was contraband.” And in denying Defendant’s motion to sup
*327
press, the trial court found that “[a] ‘pat down’ of the defendant for weapons or contraband revealed that the defendant had rolling papers in one of his front pants pockеts.” Our review of the record, however, reveals no evidence to support a finding that the officer reasonably believed the item he felt was a weapon or that it was immediately identifiable as contraband, either of which would have justified the removal of the rolling papers from Defendant’s pocket as a legitimate part of the
Terry
pat-down.
See State v. Spears,
¶ 9 Pursuant to
Terry,
a police officer may lawfully conduct a pat-down search when the officer “is justified in believing that the individual whose suspicious behavior he is investigating at close range is armed and presently dangerous to the officer or to others.”
¶ 10 The United States Supreme Court has held that if, during the course of a
Terry
search, “a police officer pats down a suspect’s outer clothing and feels an object whose contour or mass makes its identity immediately aрparent” as contraband, the officer may lawfully seize the item.
Dickerson,
¶ 11 We distinguish
State v. Vasquez,
¶ 12 Terry and its progeny would have permitted Officer Barnes to remоve the object from Defendant’s pocket only if he believed that it was a weapon, or if the officer knew, by its feel, that the item was contraband. Officer Barnes expressly testified, however, that he did not believe that the object was a weapon, and there was no testimony or evidence that the officer knew that this item was contraband. Thus, Terry does not support the officer’s actions. We therefore reverse the trial court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress the rolling pаpers.
2. The Seizure of the Marijuana from Defendant’s Shoe
¶ 13 After removing the rolling papers from Defendant’s pocket, Officer Barnes directed Defendant to remove his shoes. See supra note 1. When Defendant complied, the officer discovered a small plastic bag containing marijuana in Defendant’s left shoe. Officer Barnes stated in his police report that he directed Defendant to remove the shoes “[b]ecause people are known to conceal weapons and contraband in their shoes.” The record contаins no evidence, however, that Officer Barnes suspected that this individual carried weapons or contraband in his shoes or that the officer conducted a visual inspection or a pat-down of Defendant’s shoes before directing Defendant to remove them. Indeed, the record contains no information whatsoever concerning what type of shoes Defendant was wearing or whether Officer Barnes justifiably believed that Defendant had concealed a weapon in them that could have been immediately retrieved and used against him. At the suppression hearing, Officer Barnes testified that there was a “possibility” that Defendant was carrying a weapon in his shoe. When asked for the articulable suspicion supporting that belief, Officer Barnes responded as follows:
Just based on the reports that we, D.P.S., has [sic] been getting. The information that a lot of weapons are now being found in people’s shoes. They’re finding razor blades, knives, guns. I was on one traffic stop in Phoenix where а subject had a gun in his shoe, a small gun; so based on that information, intelligence D.P.S. receives, we check the shoes.
¶ 14 In his motion to suppress, Defendant argued that “[t]here [was] no possible way [he] could gain access to a weapon in his shoe,” and that Officer Barnes’ request that he remove his shoes therefore exceeded the bounds of
Terry.
Although we review the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling,
see State v. Bentlage,
¶ 15 Perhaps realizing that the record in this ease is devoid of any evidence that Officer Barnes had a reasonable, articulablе suspicion that this Defendant might have a weapon in his shoes, the State urges this Court to “extend” Terry to create a blanket rule permitting law enforcement officers to request that suspects remove their shoes during the course of Terry stops.
¶ 16 Such an all-inclusive rule would, however, contradict the very premise of the
Terry
decision: that officers may conduct minimally intrusive pat-down searches to ensure their safety, but that the reasonableness of each search must be viewed in light of the specific circumstаnces with which an officer is presented during a given encounter. As the Court observed in
Terry,
“in justifying [a] particular intrusion the police officer must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion.”
¶ 17 In light of these observations, we arе convinced that the rationale of
Terry
does not support the blanket rule urged by the State. We are aware that some courts have upheld as reasonable the removal of a suspect’s shoes or boots as part of a
Terry
pat-down.
See, e.g., In re Andre W.,
¶ 18 Our ruling today does not foreclose the very real possibility that an officer may in an individual case have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that a suspect is carrying a weapon in his or her shoe and that that weapon is sufficiently accessible to the suspect to present a possible danger to the officer or others. Nothing in the record before us, however, suggests that Officer Barnes had the reasonable, articulable suspicion required to justify his request that Defendant remove his shoes. As noted earlier, the officer did not observe or testify as to the type of shoe Defendant was wearing and whether a weapon, if hidden in the shoe, would have been easily accessible. Nor did the officer attempt to pat-down Defendant’s shoes or inspect the inside of the top of the shoe to ascertain whether Defendant had anything usable as a weapon yet easily accessible so concealed.
¶ 19 The State has the burden of proving the legality of a warrantless search.
See Rodriguez v. Arellano,
B. Probable Cause to Arrest as Justification for the Search of Defendant’s Pocket and Shоes
¶ 20 The State argues in the alternative that, before searching Defendant’s pocket and shoes, Officer Barnes had formed probable cause to arrest Defendant for possession or use of marijuana. It maintains that the seizure of the rolling papers and marijuana was therefore justified as part of a search incident to arrest.
¶ 21 Probable cause to arrest without a warrant exists if the arresting officer possesses information sufficient to justify a reasonable and prudent pеrson in believing that a felony has been committed by the individual arrested.
See State v. Hansen,
¶22 We note first that the record contains no evidence that Officer Barnes observed a “bulge” in Defendant’s front pocket. At most, the record indicatеs that Officer Barnes felt a small, unidentified object in Defendant’s, pocket during the pat-down. However, the officer obtained no information as a result of the pat-down that led him to immediately conclude that the object in the pocket was contraband. We therefore reject the State’s claim that any “bulge” in Defendant’s front pocket established probable cause to arrest Defendant.
¶ 23 We also reject the State’s claim that Defendant’s gang affiliation was relevant in determining whether the officer had probable cause to believe that Defendant either possessed or had used marijuana. The State presented no evidence of any correlation between gang activity and marijuana use. The State has cited no case, nor are we independently aware of any, in which gang affiliation has contributed to a finding of probable cause to arrest for marijuana use or possession. We understand that law enforcement officers operatе under a heightened sense of caution when encountering suspects who display gang insignia. We decline, however, to encourage or condone an automatic presumption of suspected drug use or possession based on gang affiliation or display of insignia.
¶ 24 The remaining two factors identified by the State are more persuasive. Certainly the odor of marijuana on a person may contribute to probable cause to believe that that
*331
person has used or possessed marijuana.
See State v. Valenzuela,
¶ 25 Although we recognize that probable cause is a “practical, non-technieal” concept,
see Illinois v. Gates,
¶26 We find facts in the present case analogous to those presented in
Hansen,
1 ¶ 27 We find the
Hansen
rationale compelling and applicable to the instant case; guilt-by-association does not provide probable cause to arrest. Further,
Hansen
is instructive on another point. The police officer in
Hansen
tried to bootstrap his cause for arresting Hansen by asserting that, based on his experience, “a majority of times when two or more subjects are seated together, it’s customary that they all pass around a marijuana cigarette, and they all smoke from that cigarette.”
¶28 Accordingly, we hold that Officer Barnes lacked probable cause to arrest Defendant. He therefore was not entitled to search Defendant’s pocket and shoes as part of a search incident to arrest.
CONCLUSION
¶29 Because we conclude that the officer’s search of Defendant’s pocket and shoes exceeded the scope of a permissible Terry pat-down, and because the State offers no other independent justification for the seizure of the marijuana and rolling papers, we hold that the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress these items. We reverse Defendant’s convictions and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. The record indicates that the officer
asked
Defendant to remove his shoes and that Defendant complied with the request. Neither party, however, has characterized the search as one based on consent.
See, e.g., West Virginia v. Hlavacek,
. West Publishing Company's Keycite electronic database contains a flag warning that
Collins
was "abrogated” by the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in
Dickerson,
. As noted by LaFave, the "limited search per- . mitted by
Terry
... is to find weapons ‘for the assault of the police officer,’ not merely to find weapons.” 4 LaFave § 9.5(b), at 274. Accordingly, even if a susрect may conceal a weapon such as a razor, too much beyond a pat-down of a suspect’s clothing may violate
Terry. See, e.g., Ohio v. Woodford,
