United States v. Pernell Riddick

── United States v. Pernell Riddick ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: May 19, 2026 Category: General NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________ No. 25-2599 ______________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PERNELL RIDDICK, Appellant ______________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. No. 3:23-cr-00182-001) U.S. District Judge: Honorable Julia K. Munley ______________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) May 15, 2026 ______________ Before: SHWARTZ, MASCOTT, and McKEE, Circuit Judges. (Filed: May 19, 2026) ______________ OPINION * ______________ ∗ This disposition is not an opinion of the full court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent. SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge. Pernell Riddick appeals the District Court’s order denying his motion to suppress. Because reasonable suspicion supported stopping Riddick’s vehicle, we will affirm. I A During a face-to-face meeting, Corporal Matthew Nero 1 received information from a confidential source (the “CS”) 2 that Amanda Petrizzo had a supplier who could deliver large quantities of methamphetamine on short notice. The CS did not know the supplier’s name but described his car as a silver or champagne-colored Nissan Rogue and shared his physical attributes, which matched Riddick’s description. Under Nero’s supervision, the CS telephoned Petrizzo, and they agreed to meet at a local gas station at around 11:00 a.m. that day so the CS could purchase methamphetamine. The meeting did not occur that day, but the CS told Nero that she arranged for the sale to take place at the same time and place the following day. Three officers—Nero, Detective Sergeant Lucas Bray, and Detective Kyle Van Note—set up surveillance at the gas station the 1 At the relevant time, Nero had been a police officer for nineteen years, a member of the Monroe County Drug Task Force for seventeen years, and a certified canine handler. He had received hundreds of hours of narcotics training, participated in hundreds of narcotics surveillance operations, and made several hundred narcotics-related arrests. His canine partner, Creed, was certified and trained to detect methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. 2 Nero knew the CS had provided law enforcement with credible information in the past that led to the arrests and convictions of drug offenders. 2 following morning. Before arriving, they learned of an active warrant for Petrizzo’s arrest. Consistent with the CS’s tip, at around 11:00 a.m., Petrizzo arrived at the gas station sitting in the passenger seat of a silver Nissan Rogue driven by a person, later identified as Riddick, who fit the physical description for Petrizzo’s supplier the CS provided. Petrizzo briefly went into the gas station convenience store and returned to the vehicle, and it departed. Nero followed the car and learned that it was registered to Riddick and that the registration was expired. Bray saw that the vehicle appeared to have illegally tinted windows. Nero then activated his lights and sirens. After doing so, Nero