Defendant's suppression motion was properly denied. The officer's direction to defendant to place his hands on the wall so she could conduct a limited pat down for weapons was prompted by more than just defendant's commission of a violation (compare, People v. St. Clair, 54 N.Y.2d 900, affg 80 A.D.2d 691). Rather, the combination of factors present here bring this case within the parameters of People v. King ( 65 N.Y.2d 702, 703), which permits a frisk following commission of a violation where the defendant exhibited "uncooperative and suspicious conduct".
Defendant was uncooperative, he refused to answer the officer's inquiries and his conduct was extremely suspicious. Upon merely being detained for a simple violation, the agitation and nervousness he exhibited was so severe, involving uncontrollable shaking and trembling, that when combined with his failure to answer the officer's inquiry, the officer possessed a reasonable basis for believing that, the defendant might be armed. While nervous behavior does not alone provide grounds for a search in circumstances where the police merely suspect criminal activity such as drug trafficking (see, e.g., People v. Owens, 206 A.D.2d 303; People v. Boyd, 188 A.D.2d 239), here defendant was already legitimately stopped for a violation (Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 10-125), and the intrusion was limited to a weapons pat down.
Defendant's admission of his possession of a weapon prior to the officer's conducting the intended pat down, and the officer's immediate retrieval of the weapon from his pocket, provided probable cause for his arrest.
Concur — Milonas, J.P., Ellerin, Tom, Mazzarelli and Saxe, JJ.