Defendant in his rental car was stopped, and the car was overdue. The renter wanted it impounded, and the officer did and inventoried it, not for arresting defendant for a crime. “Defendant points to nothing that requires law enforcement to release an overdue vehicle to a rental customer who has no continuing legitimate claim to the car, has been overdue in returning the car for nine days, has had payment for extra days declined by her credit card, and has personalized the vehicle by adding tint to the windows, when the legitimate owner — the rental company — has requested that the car be impounded. [¶] And, once Detective Wagenmann agreed to impound the car for Advantage, he was subject to the City of Miami Gardens Police Department's inventory Policy. Nor does the fact that Detective Wagenmann did not impound the car in connection with a crime affect the analysis.” United States v. Handy, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6517 (S.D. Fla. January 15, 2013).
The stop of the car defendant was in was valid because it had been involved in a controlled buy that day. The court finds the traffic stop also valid, arresting defendant for a cracked windshield was not improper, and the subsequent inventory was valid under department policy. The stop and search was also valid under the automobile exception. United States v. Baldenegro-Valdez, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 1033 (8th Cir. January 16, 2013).*
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