Impoundment and Inventory Searches of an Arrestee’s Vehicle

• Community Caretaking Doctrine
• Impounding and Inventory Searches of Vehicles

The constitutionality of an impoundment and inventory search of an arrestee’s motor vehicle depends upon the applicability the Community Caretaking Doctrine.  Generally, the Community Caretaking rule applies in those situations when the driver has been arrested and his vehicle is parked illegally, poses a safety hazard, or is vulnerable to vandalism or theft.  This includes when the vehicle is in a third party’s driveway. An inventory search of an impounded vehicle is lawful so long as not used as a subterfuge for a criminal investigation and his/her unfettered discretion is limited by a law enforcement agency’s searching procedures. 

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Peterson attempted to stop defendant Jonathan Anderson at about 2:00 a.m. one morning, for a partially obscured license plate in violation of Veh. Code § 5201.  Defendant initially failed to stop, turning abruptly into a dead-end street instead and accelerating to the end of the road.  As the deputy called for backup, defendant turned into an apartment complex, and then into the driveway of a private residence where (having run out of places to go) he stopped and got out of his truck. The total elapsed time between when Deputy Peterson first lit up his emergency lights to when defendant finally stopped was about 30 to 45 seconds. Believing that defendant had attempted to flee—an assumption that defendant denied—Deputy Peterson took him into custody at gun point and, upon arrival of a ....