After a DUI arrest, the DMV suspended the driver's license, and the driver appealed the ruling to the Circuit Court. Then, according to the appellate court, the Circuit Court failed to apply the correct law in reversing the license suspension on the ground that the arresting officer lacked sufficient basis to initiate the stop of the licensee's vehicle. Only founded suspicion is necessary to effectuate a DUI traffic stop, and the findings of the hearing officer clearly supported the existence of that basis. Tips provided to the dispatcher by two individuals who identified themselves and reported that a possibly impaired person was attempting to drive away from a convenience store were sufficient to provide founded suspicion for a DUI stop. The Circuit Court applied incorrect law in connection with the investigative stop when it relied on cases involving anonymous informants and erred in failing to impute the knowledge of the dispatcher to the arresting officers and in failing to conclude that the officers acted upon a founded suspicion.
