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Police Sgt. Connolly was on car patrol duty in a high-crime area of Bridgeport. A person known to Connolly approached his cruiser and informed him that an individual seated in a nearby vehicle was carrying narcotics and had a gun at his waist. Connolly approached the vehicle to investigate. Connolly tapped on the car window and asked P to open the door. P rolled down the window instead. Connolly reached into the car and removed a fully loaded revolver from P's waistband. The gun had not been visible to Connolly from outside the car, but it was in the exact place indicated by the informant. P was arrested for unlawful possession of a pistol. A search incident to that arrest was conducted after other officers arrived. They found substantial quantities of heroin on P's person and in the car, and they found a machete and a second revolver hidden in the automobile. D contends that the seizure of his pistol, upon which rested the later search and seizure of other weapons and narcotics, was not justified by the informant's tip to Sgt. Connolly. P claims that, absent a more reliable informant or some corroboration of the tip, Connolly's actions were unreasonable under the standards set forth in Terry v. Ohio. P was convicted. Ps petition for federal habeas corpus relief was denied. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the evidence that had been used in the trial resulting in P's conviction had been obtained by an unlawful search. D appealed.

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