Opinion
February 4, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Sherman, J.).
Judgments affirmed.
The evidence adduced at the suppression hearing indicates that on December 21, 1979, at approximately 9:45 P.M., while Police Officers James O'Brien and Charles Zena were patrolling Forest Park in a marked vehicle, they observed some youths standing by Carousel Park House. As O'Brien slowed the vehicle down so that he and Zena could "see what was going on", most of the youths started to walk away in all different directions. Zena and O'Brien then turned the patrol car off the roadway to the park and onto the grass and proceeded to the area where the group had been spotted initially. The police officers spotted the defendant who "seemed to be walking away at a rather fast pace". They followed him and then saw him drop an object to the ground between two trees. O'Brien continued driving up to where he had seen the object fall. He stopped the car, allowing Zena to get out, and proceeded to follow the defendant. As Zena picked up the object, O'Brien stopped the patrol car near the defendant and got out to question him. After examining the package, Zena concluded that it contained narcotics and he told O'Brien to arrest defendant. Criminal Term properly denied that branch of defendant's pretrial motion which sought to suppress the narcotics, inasmuch as the narcotics had been abandoned by the defendant ( see, People v Boodle, 47 N.Y.2d 398, cert denied 444 U.S. 969; People v Hogya, 80 A.D.2d 621; cf. People v Howard, 50 N.Y.2d 583, cert denied 449 U.S. 1023; People v Anderson, 24 N.Y.2d 12). Defendant's other contentions are without merit. Thompson, J.P., Brown, Niehoff and Lawrence, JJ., concur.