Riley, J.
At approximately 1:00 a.m. on June 16, 2011, Officer Adam Loudermilk of the Terre Haute Police Department (Officer Loudermilk) was on patrol in his marked vehicle when he observed a blue 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier operated by Dixon in the vicinity of First Avenue and 16th Street in Terre Haute, Indiana. Officer Loudermilk had been following the vehicle for three or four blocks when Dixon made a turn without signaling. The Officer decided to stop Dixon and activated his lights. Dixon pulled his vehicle into a parking spot in a residential neighborhood, stopped, and turned off his car. When Officer Loudermilk exited his vehicle, he noticed that Dixon had gotten out of his car and had started walking towards a residence. Officer Loudermilk approached Dixon and told him, “Hey, you need to get back in your car[,]” but Dixon continued to walk away. (Transcript p. 10). After Officer Loudermilk took out his taser and instructed Dixon for a third time to get back into his car, Dixon stopped and asked, “What did I do? What did I do?” (Tr. p. 10). Officer Loudermilk responded, “You just needed to use your turn signal. It’s not that big of a deal. Just have a seat in your car and we’ll go from there.” (Tr. p. 10). Officer Loudermilk walked Dixon back to Dixon’s vehicle.
Officer Loudermilk instructed Dixon to sit in the driver’s seat with the door open, while the Officer remained standing next to the open door. When Dixon handed the Officer his license and identification, Officer Loudermilk recognized Dixon’s name. A week or two previously, Officer Loudermilk was approached by an individual, whom he knew from when this person was an inmate at the county jail, who told him that Dixon was selling narcotics in Terre Haute. Although Officer Loudermilk did not find any irregularities in Dixon’s identification or license, he requested the presence of another officer.
After Officer Birchfield arrived, Officer Loudermilk decided to take Dixon out of Dixon’s car to pat him down. Officer Loudermilk asked Dixon to place his hands on top of the vehicle and began the patdown search. Officer Loudermilk felt a baggie “with a rock in there” in Dixon’s right front pants’ pocket. (Tr. p. 21). When Officer Loudermilk grabbed the baggie, Dixon took his hands off the car and Officer Loudermilk decided to handcuff him as he had not yet checked Dixon’s waistband or other pockets. Officer Loudermilk took Dixon’s left hand and brought it behind Dixon’s back; however, when the Officer took hold of Dixon’s left hand, Dixon elbowed him in the nose. Because Dixon attempted to flee, the officers took him to the ground and tased him twice. Officer Loudermilk eventually handcuffed Dixon and found three baggies on his person.
. . . .
Viewed sequentially, the picture emerges that Dixon had already pulled into a parking spot prior to the Officer activating his lights and signaling the commencement of the traffic stop. Dixon did not exhibit any threatening conduct or belligerent tone of voice. Cooperating with the Officer, who walked Dixon back to his car and stood next to the open driver’s door, Dixon handed him his identification. Only after the Officer recognized Dixon’s name as a possible drug dealer, the Officer started voicing a belief that he needed “to put this guy in handcuffs until [he] find[s] out what’s going on.” (Tr. p. 22).
Under the Terry doctrine, a law enforcement officer, for his own protection and safety, may conduct a patdown to find weapons that he reasonably believes or suspects are then in the possession of the person he has stopped. Nothing in Terry can be understood to allow a generalized cursory search for weapons or indeed, any search for anything but weapons. Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 93-94 (1979). “The narrow scope of the Terry exception does not permit a frisk for weapons on less than a reasonable belief or suspicion directed at the person to be frisked.” Id. Here, Officer Loudermilk’s actions ostensibly belie the fact that he was concerned for his safety. We reverse the trial court’s decision and remand to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion. [Footnote omitted.]
ROBB, J. concurs
BRADFORD, J. dissents with separate opinion:
Considering only the evidence favorable to the trial court’s judgment, a man of reasonable caution would believe that Officer Loudermilk’s actions were appropriate, given the information at his disposal at the time of the pat-down. Although Dixon argues that Officer Loudermilk patted him down on nothing more than a “hunch” that he might be armed and dangerous, Dixon’s argument disregards the fact that he walked away from his vehicle after being stopped, repeatedly ignoring Officer Loudermilk’s commands that he return. In Officer Loudermilk’s experience, such behavior indicates a desire to distance oneself from something in the vehicle or to escape the encounter altogether. As the Indiana Supreme Court has put it, flight “is ‘the consummate act of evasion: It is not necessarily indicative of wrongdoing, but it is certainly suggestive of such’ and warrants further investigation by police.” Hardister v. State, 849 N.E.2d 563, 570 (Ind. 2006) (quoting Illinois V. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 124 (2000)). Once back in his vehicle, Dixon’s demeanor was extremely nervous—indeed, Dixon was the most nervous person Officer Loudermilk had ever encountered on the job. Dixon repeatedly failed to comply with Officer Loudermilk’s requests that he keep his hands on the steering wheel, refused to look at Officer Loudermilk, was rocking in his seat, and was digging in his pockets. Dixon’s behavior was unsettling enough that Officer Loudermilk did not run his plates for fear of turning his back on Dixon.
Moreover, during the course of the stop, Officer Loudermilk became aware that Dixon was likely the person he had recently been told was a drug dealer who had large amounts of cocaine in his residence. Because this information was delivered face-to-face by a person known to Officer Loudermilk, it bears indicia of reliability. When an informant relates information to the police face-to-face, the officer has an opportunity to assess the informant’s credibility and demeanor. U.S. v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141, 144 (4th Cir. 2000). Additionally, a face-to-face tipster has surrendered her anonymity. “[C]itizens who personally report crimes to the police thereby make themselves accountable for lodging false complaints.” Id. (citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 233-34 (1983)). Finally, the tip was freely given, and the informant was neither offered nor given anything in return.
Having information that he might be dealing with a drug dealer in Dixon, Officer Loudermilk was reasonably concerned about the possibility that Dixon might be armed. Several courts have recognized that “drug dealers and weapons go hand in hand[.]” . . . .
While any one factor standing alone might not support a pat-down for officer safety, the overall circumstances do. . . . .