The hearing court properly found that while the police could lawfully approach defendant for mere inquiry regarding his early morning "huddle" with two other individuals in front of a known drug location (People v. Hollman, 79 N.Y.2d 181, 185), the officer's direction that defendant halt and take his hands out of his pockets escalated the level of intrusion to that of the common law right of inquiry, requiring "a founded suspicion that criminal activity is afoot" (People v. De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210, 223), a circumstance, as conceded by the arresting officer, not present in this case. The hearing court also properly found that defendant's actions in dropping a bag containing contraband as he took his hands out of his pockets as directed, was not a calculated, voluntary abandonment, but a spontaneous reaction to improper police action (People v. Boodle, 47 N.Y.2d 398, 404, cert denied 444 U.S. 969).
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Ellerin, Asch and Tom, JJ.