Collik v. Pohlable

District Court, S.D. Ohio·Decided February 15, 2022·No. 3:20-cv-00307·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO WESTERN DIVISION AT DAYTON LANCE COLLIK, : Plaintiff, : Case No. 3:20-cv-307 v. : Judge Thomas M. Rose KYLE E. POHLABEL, et al., : Defendants. :

ENTRY AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT POHLABEL’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. NO. 24); DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. NO. 21); AND, TERMINATING THE CASE

This case involves a claim brought by Lance Collik (“Collik”) against Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Kyle E. Pohlabel (““Pohlabel”’) for deprivation of civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 arising from a traffic stop. (Doc. 1.) Pending before the Court are two motions: Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 21) (“Plaintiff's MSJ”) and Defendant Pohlabel’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 24) (“Defendant’s MSJ”).! As explained below, the Court finds that Pohlabel is entitled to summary judgment. There is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and Pohlabel is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law concerning the three alleged constitutional violations. Therefore, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s MSJ, DENIES Plaintiffs MSJ, and TERMINATES this case.

' Pohlabel is the only remaining defendant in this case. On November 8, 2021, the Court entered an order granting a joint motion to drop Jason Barhorst (“Barhorst”) as a party-defendant. (Doc. No. 20.)

I. BACKGROUND ” A. The Stop During the early afternoon of November 13, 2019, Collik was driving a vehicle eastbound on Interstate 70 in Preble County, Ohio. (Doc. No. 23 at PageID 112-13.) At that time, trooper Pohlabel was in his patrol cruiser, parked in the median and conducting speed monitoring. (d.) Pohlabel observed Collik’s vehicle—a limousine with windows tinted out except for the front windows and windshield—approach him on the interstate and slow down without braking, with Collik leaning forward over the steering wheel while looking away as he passed Pohlabel. (/d.) Although Collik had not committed any traffic offense, Pohlabel decided to pursue Collik to run the vehicle’s tag. (Ud. at PageID 123.) Claiming that he then observed Collik commit a marked lanes violation (traffic infraction), Pohlabel decided to make a traffic stop. (Doc. No. 23 at PageID 124.) The video from Pohlabel’s dashboard camera does not show that Collik’s tires crossed the white edge line (i.e., the fog line); instead, it shows that Collik’s vehicle merely drove on that line. (Video? at 12:47:11 — 12:47:19; see also Doc. No. 21 at PageID 75 (Collik asserting that “the tire, at best, touched the edge line but was never outside any portion thereof”).) Pohlabel initiated a traffic stop by pulling behind Collik’s vehicle and activating the light bar on his cruiser. (Video at 12:47:23 — 12:47:35.) Pohlabel followed behind Collik’s vehicle with his light bar activated for approximately one mile before Collik finally pulled over onto the shoulder and stopped. (Ud. at 12:47:35 — 12:48:48.) During the time that Pohlabel was behind Collik’s vehicle with his light bar activated, the vehicle

The recitation in the “Background” section includes undisputed facts and otherwise assumes the evidence of the non- moving party (here, Collik, for purposes of Defendant’s MSJ, which resolves the case), as true and draws all reasonable inferences in the non-moving party’s favor, as is appropriate at this stage. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986); Tolan v. Cotton, 572 U.S. 650, 660 (2014). 3 The parties manually filed a disc containing the dashboard camera video. (See Doc. Nos. 27, 28, and 29.) Specific time references in this order are based on the time of day indicated at the top of the video image (hour:minute:second).

in front of Collik pulled over, yet Collik continued driving. Ud. at 12:48:13 — 12:48:18.) B. Post-Stop Once their vehicles were stopped on the side of the busy interstate, Pohlabel instructed Collik to exit his vehicle and come towards him. (Video at 12:48:50 — 12:49:12.) Collik exited his vehicle, Pohlabel asked Collik why he did not pull over once Pohlabel’s light bar was activated, and Pohlabel asked if there was anyone else in Collik’s vehicle. (Ud. at 12:49:12 — 12:50:12.) Pohlabel then asked Collik if he could pat him down, Collik consented, Pohlabel conducted a pat- down, and Pohlabel asked Collik about his identification, registration, and insurance. (Jd. at 12:50:12 — 12:50:54.) Pohlabel then told Collik that he was going to bring him into his cruiser because it was so cold outside (to which Collik said “Yeah”) and that he didn’t want them to get hit on the busy road, so both men got situated in Pohlabel’s cruiser. (/d. at 12:50:54 — 12:52:13.) At that point, Pohlabel asked Collik how long he had been driving; Collik indicated that he was driving across the country and discussed his trip—including how he was driving to New York but lives in Colorado. (Ud. at 12:52:13 — 12:52:55.) Pohlabel then explained to Collik why he pulled him over, including wanting to make sure that Collik was not falling asleep; Collik told Pohlabel that he had been driving a lot and how much he had been sleeping, and Collik volunteered some details of the route he had taken—including that his trip actually started in Las Vegas and that this was the first time he had been pulled over. Ud. at 12:52:55 — 12:55:19.) Pohlabel then asked Collik if the limousine belonged to him and about some visible damage on it, Pohlabel pointed out that the entire rear end of the vehicle appeared to be weighted down, and Collik provided an explanation for the sagging. (Ud. at 12:55:19 — 12:56:36.) Pohlabel then asked how long Collik would be in New York; Collik said that he was “not sure, maybe like a few weeks”; Pohlabel asked if Collik had a job; and Collik explained that he lost his job, since that time he had been trying to find something new, and he wasn’t planning on looking for a new job in New York but instead

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