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Evidence suppressed in DUI case

DUI cops responded to a 911 call that a man had flipped his truck.

It turned out no accident occurred. The man's passenger had prank-called an ex-girlfriend, whose friend dialed 911 to report a crash.

Later that night, after law enforcement learned about the prank, they found the man, Robert Dionian, 19, of Palmetto, in his parked truck. They smelled alcohol on his breath, and charged him with DUI because the keys were in the ignition, according to reports.

However, a judge ruled Friday officers had no right to detain Dionian, forcing the state to drop the case due to a lack of evidence.

On the night of the incident, Dionian's passenger, Kyle Vickers, had made a prank call to his ex-girlfriend and lied about them getting in an accident.

When the girl's friend dialed 911, Florida Highway Patrol sent up a helicopter and scoured the county to find the truck. They did not find it.

Later that evening, authorities learned it was a hoax.

A few hours later, officers from FHP and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, found the truck parked in East Manatee, according to reports.

The truck was not running.

Officers activated their lights and pulled up to the truck.

Dionian, sitting in the driver's seat, and Vickers, sitting in the passenger's seat, got out. Dionian alerted officers that a rifle was in the front seat of the car.

Officers smelled alcohol on Dionian's breath, conducted a DUI investigation, and then arrested him for DUI, being under age 21 and possessing alcohol and possession of a rifle according to reports.

On Friday, Dionian's lawyer, Colleen Glenn, argued in court that the officers had no right to detain the men.

"In order to detain somebody, the police have to have reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred and that obviously wasn't the case here," Glenn said.

Glenn cited Florida law, which explains that when an officer activates his emergency lights, the act initiates a stop for investigation, not a consensual encounter.

"My client was illegally seized," Glenn said.

Prosecutor Pam Bula argued that the encounter between law enforcement and Dionian was consensual, meaning Dionian was not obligated to produce the evidence the led to his arrest.

But County Judge Mark Singer ruled it was not consensual and suppressed all evidence obtained after the encounter began, including Dionian's blood alcohol content and officers' observations of impairment.

Because the evidence was suppressed, the state will not pursue the case, said Erica Arend, a spokeswoman with the misdemeanor division of the state attorney's office.

Prank leads officers to investigate fake wreck; after finding car, teen ruled illegally detained.