Driver and Passenger Arrested for Robbery After Police Asked for Identification in New York

In People v. Ocasio, 201 A.D.2d 15, 614 N.Y.S.2d 506 (1st Dep't 1994), affd 85 N.Y.2d 982, 652 N.E.2d 907, 629 N.Y.S.2d 161, the car in which defendant and his passenger were traveling was stopped at a red light. Police officers tapped on the window, asking for identification. In response to the request, defendant's passenger handed up a wallet containing another man's driver's license and credit cards, which led to the arrest of the defendant and the passenger on robbery charges. The Court of Appeals held that this "initial questioning, limited to a request for identification, was consistent with a request for information, which involves basic, nonthreatening questions, regarding, for instance, identity, address or destination." (85 N.Y.2d at 985.)