People v. Bonneau

In People v. Bonneau, 140 Misc. 2d 938, (Co. Ct, Westchester Co., 1988), the defendant was arrested for theft. The location of the arrest was the Village of Buchanan police station. At the time of the arrest the defendant's car was parked at his place of employment. Subsequent to the arrest the police arranged to have his vehicle towed and impounded. An official police form indicated that the vehicle had been impounded for "felonious use" but there was also testimony that it was removed at the request of the defendant's employer. The Court ruled that there was no valid reason for the police to impound the vehicle. The Court wrote that "the car was safe were it was" until such time as the defendant or his agent could retrieve it, its "presence caused no risk" to the property owner where it was parked, there was no "danger of its being molested". Had the vehicle been "unregistered, uninsured or uninspected" or had it been parked so as to endanger public safety or interfere with the flow of traffic the seizure would have been authorized.