Raul Canino was charged with reckless driving1 and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.2 This appeal arises from this Court’s grant of Canino’s application for interlocutory review of the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from his car following his arrest for reckless driving. Canino argues that the trial court erred because 1 the police did not have probable cause to arrest him for reckless driving; 2 the search of his vehicle incident to his arrest was improper; and 3 the search of his car pursuant to an inventory search was improper. We reverse, for reasons that follow. When reviewing a trial court’s order on a motion to suppress, the appellate court should be guided by three principles with regard to the interpretation of the trial court’s judgment of the facts. First, when a motion to suppress is heard by the trial judge, that judge sits as the trier of facts. The trial judge hears the evidence, and his findings based upon conflicting evidence are analogous to the verdict of a jury and should not be disturbed by a reviewing court if there is any evidence to support them. Second, the trial court’s decision with regard to questions of fact and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous. Third, the reviewing court must construe the evidence most favorably to the upholding of the trial court’s findings and judgment.3 So construed, the evidence shows that on August 19, 2008, at approximately 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., Officer Terry Werho of the Gwinnett County Police Department, along with three other officers, was in a shopping center walking toward a restaurant where they planned to have dinner. As he walked through the parking lot, Werho observed Canino’s black BMW enter the parking lot, “accelerating at a high rate of speed, making turns through the aisles recklessly,” and causing the tires to squeal on the pavement and the body of the vehicle to “sway to the passenger side” as it turned. Another officer, Kevin Sipple, testified that Canino’s car “fish-tailed” and came within ten feet of Sipple. Canino parked in a marked parking spot near the four patrol cars and exited his vehicle.
All four officers approached Canino, and Werho “asked him why he was driving so recklessly” and for his identification. Canino replied that he was meeting someone inside the restaurant, and he produced two traffic citations, one for a traffic offense and one for driving under the influence, explaining that his driver’s license had been confiscated by DeKalb County police and that his name and birth date were on the citations. At some point during this initial contact, Werho directed Canino to sit in his vehicle, and Canino complied. Werho checked Canino’s information through GCIC, which indicated that Canino did in fact have a driver’s license.4 Another officer was in a patrol car with Werho during the GCIC inquiry, and the other two officers remained standing “a few feet” behind Canino’s car where he was sitting pursuant to the officer’s instruction.
