Page:Mike Stanton v. Drendolyn Sims.pdf/1

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Around one o'clock in the morning on May 27, 2008, Officer Mike Stanton and his partner responded to a call about an "unknown disturbance" involving a person with a baseball bat in La Mesa, California. App. to Pet. for Cert. 6. Stanton was familiar with the neighborhood, known for "violence associated with the area gangs." Ibid. The officers—wearing uniforms and driving a marked police vehicle—approached the place where the disturbance had been reported and noticed three men walking in the street. Upon seeing the police car, two of the men turned into a nearby apartment complex. The third, Nicholas Patrick, crossed the street about 25 yards in front of Stanton's car and ran or quickly walked toward a residence. Id., at 7, 17. Nothing in the record shows that Stanton knew at the time whether that residence belonged to Patrick or someone else; in fact, it belonged to Drendolyn Sims.

Stanton did not see Patrick with a baseball bat, but he considered Patrick's behavior suspicious and decided to detain him in order to investigate. Ibid.; see Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1 (1968). Stanton exited his patrol car, called out "police," and ordered Patrick to stop in a voice loud enough for all in the area to hear. App. to Pet. for Cert. 7. But Patrick did not stop. Instead, he "looked directly at Stanton, ignored his lawful orders[,] and quickly went through [the] front gate" of a fence enclosing Sims' front yard. Id., at 17 (alterations omitted). When the gate closed behind Patrick, the fence—which was more than six feet tall and made of wood—blocked Stanton's view of the