In State v. Anderson, 198 N.J.Super. 340, 486 A.2d 1311 (App.Div.1985), a police officer on routine patrol received a report of an armed robbery having been committed by three black males at approximately 1:30 a.m. Responding to the report, the officer negotiated his police car onto the street where the robbery occurred. As he approached an intersection two blocks from the scene of the robbery, he observed another vehicle bearing an out-of-state registration occupied by two black males traveling in the opposite direction. Except for another police car, the vehicle occupied by the two black males was the only other car on the road. The police officer was unable to determine whether there was a third occupant in the vehicle due to tinted windows. Believing the occupants fit the description of the suspects, the officer proceeded to stop the vehicle. After the stop, a third occupant was discovered in the rear of the vehicle. The suspects were ordered out of the car, at which point the police discovered a weapon in plain view. The defendants were arrested and later identified as the assailants by the victims. Id. at 347-348, 486 A.2d 1311. The Appellate Division concluded that the police lacked probable cause to arrest the defendants when their vehicle was first observed several blocks from the scene of the robbery. The court, however, upheld the stop. The court noted that it is the government's interest in effective crime prevention and detection which underlies the recognition of a police officer's authority to approach a person for the purpose of investigating possible criminal behavior in the absence of probable cause. Id. at 351, 486 A.2d 1311.