Taras Nykoriak v. Lena Wileczek

666 F. App'x 441
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedDecember 1, 2016
Docket16-1627
StatusUnpublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 666 F. App'x 441 (Taras Nykoriak v. Lena Wileczek) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taras Nykoriak v. Lena Wileczek, 666 F. App'x 441 (6th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Taras P. Nykoriak appeals the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of Michigan State Police Trooper Lena Wileczek in this civil rights action filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

On March 8, 2015, Nykoriak called 911 to report that his female passenger had turned white and thrown up and that she appeared to be having a seizure. In response to Nykoriak’s 911 call, Michigan State Police Troopers, including Trooper Wileczek, were dispatched to the report of a non-responsive female in a vehicle in a parking lot at a Marathon gas station on M-51 near the 1-94 exit.

Trooper Jesse Binns, the first officer to arrive at the scene, observed a black Ford SUV occupied by Nykoriak in the driver’s seat and Sabina Puchalski. in the passenger’s seat. Trooper Binns recognized Ny-koriak from a traffic stop some months prior during which another occupant of the vehicle was found to be in possession of heroin.

Upon her arrival at the scene, Trooper Wileczek attempted to speak with Puchal-ski, who had a difficult time focusing and answering questions. Puchalski had saliva on the left side of her face and could not keep her eyes open, appearing to nod in and out of consciousness.. Based on her training and experience, Trooper Wileczek believed' that Puchalski was under the influence of heroin or other opiates and may have been overdosing.

After speaking with Puchalski, Trooper Wileczek. learned that Trooper Binns recognized Nykoriak from a prior traffic stop involving heroin and that multiple cell phones were observed in Nykoriak’s vehicle. When Nykoriak refused to consent to a search of his vehicle, the troopers called to request a canine unit. Trooper Wileczek asked Nykoriak to exit his vehicle, and he complied. Trooper Wileczek informed Ny-koriak that he was not under arrest and that she wanted him to wait in her cruiser. As Trooper Wileczek was patting Nykor-iak down, he told her that he was carrying *443 a concealed pistol. This was the first time that Nykoriak had mentioned the pistol to the troopers. Trooper Wileczek took the pistol, handcuffed Nykoriak, and placed him in the back of her cruiser. The troopers then attempted to verify that Nykoriak had a concealed pistol license. Trooper Wi-leczek was unable obtain such verification through the Law Enforcement Information Network, but another trooper verified through other electronic means that Ny-koriak had a license. Trooper Wileczek also contacted dispatch to determine whether the pistol was registered; dispatch informed her that no record of registration was found.

When the canine unit arrived on the scene, the canine conducted a free air search around Nykoriak’s vehicle and positively indicated narcotics near the rear of the vehicle and the front passenger seat. The troopers searched the vehicle but found no drugs. After searching the vehicle and conducting an investigation regarding the concealed pistol, the troopers released Nykoriak at the scene.

Nykoriak subsequently filed this § 1983 action against Trooper Wileczek, asserting that she violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments by falsely arresting and imprisoning him and illegally confiscating his pistol. Nykoriak also brought a state-law claim for replevin of his firearm. Trooper Wileczek filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted. This timely appeal followed.

We review de novo the district court’s decision granting summary judgment. Stricker v. Twp. of Cambridge, 710 F.3d 350, 357 (6th Cir. 2013). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Viewing the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party, we must determine “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52,106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Nykoriak contends that his complaint sufficiently stated claims against Trooper Wileczek and that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment. However, “once a motion for summary judgment is made and is supported as required” by Rule 56, the non-moving party “cannot rest solely on the allegations made in [his] pleadings” but “must set forth by affidavits or otherwise specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Skousen v. Brighton High Sch., 305 F.3d 520, 527 (6th Cir. 2002). In response to Trooper Wileczek’s motion for summary judgment, Nykoriak relied solely on the factual allegations in his unverified complaint—many of which are refuted by the video and audio recordings in evidence. Nykoriak did not submit an affidavit or cite any evidence in the record showing any disputed facts. “The failure to present any evidence to counter a well-supported motion for - summary judgment alone is grounds for granting the motion.” Everson v. Leis, 556 F.3d 484, 496 (6th Cir. 2009). Based on the undisputed evidence presented by Trooper Wileczek, the district court properly granted her motion for summary judgment.

In support of his Fourth Amendment claims, Nykoriak contends that the encounter with the troopers became an arrest lacking probable cause when Trooper Wileczek handcuffed him and placed him in the back of her cruiser. In the alternative, Nykoriak argues that Trooper Wilec-zek lacked reasonable suspicion to stop and search him.

*444 “An officer may detain an individual for a short time for investigatory purposes if, under the totality of the circumstances, [s]he has ‘reasonable suspicion,’ that is, ‘a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person ... of criminal activity based on specific and articula-ble facts.’ ” Brown v. Lewis, 779 F.3d 401, 412 (6th Cir. 2016) (quoting Hoover v. Walsh, 682 F.3d 481, 494 (6th Cir. 2012)); see generally Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). “Here, we must assess not only what the officers knew at the time of the initial stop but also the information developed during the course of that initial stop.” Hoover, 682 F.3d at 497. “Once justified, an investigatory stop is reasonable if the ‘degree of intrusion into the suspect’s personal security was reasonably related in scope to the situation at hand.’ ” Id. (quoting O’Malley v. City of Flint,

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666 F. App'x 441, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taras-nykoriak-v-lena-wileczek-ca6-2016.