Barnes, J.
Specific to the situation faced by Officer Hammock, it is well-settled that police officers are not permitted to conduct pat-down searches of occupants of vehicles pulled over during a routine traffic stop unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe that the person to be subjected to the frisk is armed and dangerous. Arizona v. Johnson, 555 U.S. 323, 327, 129 S. Ct. 781, 784 (2009); see also Mitchell v. State, 745 N.E.2d 775, 781-82 (Ind. 2001). Although an officer may order an occupant out of the vehicle during a traffic stop as a matter of routine because of officer safety concerns, the additional, more intrusive step of a pat-down search is not automatically justified. See id.; Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S. 113, 117-18, 119 S. Ct. 484, 488 (1998); Mitchell, 745 N.E.2d at 781. Even if a person exits a vehicle during a traffic stop without the officer’s prior permission, a pat-down search is not justified if the person is otherwise cooperative and does not make furtive or threatening movements. See Jett v. State, 716 N.E.2d 69, 70-71 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999). A generalized suspicion by an officer that “everyone can be armed” does not authorize a pat-down search. Id. at 71.
Here, there is no evidence of hostility, aggressiveness, furtive movements, or anything of that nature on Cunningham’s part prior to the pat-down search, or at any time during the traffic stop for that matter. Cunningham was the only occupant of the vehicle, and another officer was on the scene backing up Officer Hammock when the pat-down occurred. Cunningham merely asked to see the broken-out tail lamp because he thought it was only cracked, not completely broken. There was nothing inherently threatening in that request, and Officer Hammock did not testify as to feeling threatened. Instead, he seems to have stated that he would pat down Cunningham if he left the vehicle out of a generalized concern for “officer safety” without any particular facts that would indicate such a concern. If Officer Hammock believed it was more dangerous for Cunningham to be outside of his vehicle than inside of it, he could have taken the less-invasive step of ordering him to stay inside. There was not sufficient reasonable suspicion that Cunningham was armed and dangerous that would support a pat-down search in the absence of Cunningham’s consent.
. . . .
We conclude that Officer Hammock clearly did not ask Cunningham for permission to conduct a pat-down search. Instead, Officer Hammock’s testimony demonstrates that he gave an ultimatum to Cunningham: if he decided to exit the vehicle to inspect the tail lamp, “I would pat him down for any weapons just for officer safety issue.” Tr. p. 6 (emphasis added). Phrased in this way, Cunningham had no choice but to submit to the pat-down when he exited the vehicle, despite the absence of reasonable suspicion that he was armed and dangerous. Cummingham’s response to Officer Hammock, “That was fine,” only represents Cunningham’s mere acquiescence or submission to Officer Hammock’s claimed right to conduct a pat-down search, even though the officer had no such right. Id. The State has failed to establish that Cunningham’s purported consent to the pat-down was constitutionally valid. As such, we conclude that the discovery of the marijuana in the pill bottle during the illegal pat-down and the subsequent discovery of the pipe must be suppressed as fruits of the poisonous tree. See Hill, 956 N.E.2d at 179.
ROBB, J., concurs.
BROWN, J., dissents with opinion:
. . . The majority concludes that “Cunningham had no choice but to submit to the pat-down when he exited the vehicle . . . .” Supra at 9. In my view, however, the circumstances did not necessitate that Cunningham exit his vehicle, and indeed he chose to do so with full knowledge that, if he exited the vehicle, it would result in a pat-down search. During a traffic stop, an officer may order a vehicle’s occupant to remain in the vehicle. See Starr v. State, 928 N.E.2d 876, 879 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010) (noting that during a traffic stop a “passenger who had exited the vehicle and refused to comply with an officer’s directive to return to it was properly arrested for resisting law enforcement”). Officer Hammock presented Cunningham with a choice on how to proceed, and in opting to exit the vehicle, Cunningham consented to the pat-down search, both in his verbal response to the officer that is was “fine” to be patted down, and in his actions. There was no element of coercion, “fraud, duress, fear, or intimidation,” or a mere submission to the supremacy of the law. Nowling v. State, 955 N.E.2d 854, 862 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), aff’d on reh’g, trans. denied (quoting Melton v. State, 705 N.E.2d 564, 567 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999)). The officer did not order him out of the vehicle and initiate an illegal search. Cunningham did not acquiesce to police actions and directives; the police were neither acting nor directing but rather responding to Cunningham’s request to get out of his vehicle.