An anonymous caller told police that a one or more black males were selling drugs on a street corner. A minute later, an officer went to that corner, where he had made 15-20 arrests, and saw several black males, who dispersed on his arrival. The officer did not see defendant engaging in any drug transactions before defendant walked away, but asked him to take his hand from his pocket; as defendant did so, he dropped an item which proved to be crack cocaine. The appellate court held that the officer's request for defendant to remove his hand from his pocket amounted to a stop. As the anonymous tipster gave no description of the men, other than their race, the tip failed to contain the requisite specificity. Equally lacking was any independent police corroboration of aspects of the informant's tip. Therefore, the anonymous tip was insufficient to establish reasonable suspicion for a stop. As there was no evidence of flight by defendant, who at most quickly walked away from the area, and there was no evidence that he appeared nervous or engaged in evasive behavior, there were insufficient facts to support a reasonable suspicion that he was engaged in criminal activity. Lee v. State 868 So.2d. 577.
Holding: The Court held that just because the defendant was in a high-crime area when stopped, did not amount to have reasonable suspicion to detain the defendant.
