Under what circumstances can a police officer search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant's arrest?

Officers may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant's arrest only when the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or "when it is reasonable to believe that evidence of the offense of arrest might be found in the vehicle." (Arizona v. Gant (2009) 556 U.S. 332, _ [129 S.Ct. 1710, 1714] (Gant).) If there is probable cause to believe that a vehicle contains evidence of criminal activity, police officers may search any area of the vehicle in which the evidence might be found. (Id. at p. 1721; United States v. Ross (1982) 456 U.S. 798, 820-821.) This latter exception to the warrant requirement is known as the automobile exception, and it is rooted in "the historical distinctions between the search of an automobile or other conveyance and the search of a dwelling." (People v. Superior Court (Nasmeh) (2007) 151 Cal.App.4th 85, 100.) These distinctions recognize a vehicle's inherent mobility (ibid.; California v. Carney (1985) 471 U.S. 386, 392-394, fn. 3), and acknowledge a reduced expectation of privacy in a vehicle compared to a dwelling. (Gant, supra, 129 S.Ct. at p. 1720.) "In this class of cases, a search is not unreasonable if based on facts that would justify the issuance of a warrant, even though a warrant has not actually been obtained." (United States v. Ross, supra, 456 U.S. at p. 809, fn. omitted.)

A search incident to arrest need not be performed simultaneously with full custodial arrest. The search may precede the actual arrest. (Rawlings v. Kentucky (1980)

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