Attempting To Leave Police Car Before Writing a Ticket

In Keyes v. City of Virginia Beach, 16 Va. App. 198, 428 S.E.2d 766 (1993), a police officer stopped the accused for a traffic infraction, and she attempted to leave his police car before he had finished writing the ticket. See id. at 199, 428 S.E.2d at 767. When he ordered her back to the car, she "balled her fists, . . . straightened up" and "started screaming at him." Id. When he warned her that he would arrest her for disorderly conduct if she did not calm down, she continued to scream, saying "you ain't going to do nothing to me." Id. The arresting officer testified that he thought the accused "was going to fight," and he placed her under arrest for disorderly conduct. Id. In affirming the conviction, we emphasized that the accused refused to cooperate with an officer engaged in the lawful performance of his duties--issuing a traffic summons. See id. at 200, 428 S.E.2d at 768. The Court found reasonable the officer's belief, based on his description of the accused's behavior, that he thought he was "going to have to fight" to subdue her, thereby establishing that her behavior had "a direct tendency to cause acts of violence by the person . . . at whom it was directed." Id.