Conviction of Unrelated Crime After Arrest for Open Bottle Law Violation

In People v. Pantusco, 107 AD2d 854, 855-856 [3d Dept 1985], two police officers observed defendant carrying an open bottle of liquor on a public street in the City of Kingston, New York. The officers arrested the defendant for violation of the city's open container law. A search incidental to the arrest revealed evidence of a burglary, and the defendant was subsequently indicted for burglary. In upholding the defendant's conviction for burglary, the Appellate Division found that the defendant's arrest was made pursuant to an ordinance that had not been declared unconstitutional, and that the arrest had been based on probable cause to believe that the defendant had violated the ordinance. Thus, "the search and seizure incident thereto was valid and the items seized pursuant thereto need not have been suppressed." (People v. Pantusco, 107 AD2d, at 856.)