Exactly what is the law regarding citizen’s arrests?
Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.
Well, I only crossed paths with this kind of situation once, so here’s at least one example of how it took place:
South Wall Street, Joplin, Missouri, January 1999. Another driver tries to turn into a parking lot, across my lane of traffic, and slams into me. 15 minutes later JPD arrives, looks over the damage, and determines that a) I was not at fault, and b) the other driver commited a traffic offense. However, since the cop didn’t witness the offense himself, he couldn’t sign the citation. I, however, did witness it, and thus I had to sign a “citizens arrest” form.
Just a WAG, but I’d say that a “citizen’s arrest” almost universally is applied to traffic citations or Class Z misdemeanors.
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http://members.xoom.com/rastahomie/index.htm
You can apprehend someone who commits a crime and stop him (the original meaning of “arrest”) in order to turn him over to the authorities. Nothing special is required.
But you better be right. The person you arrest can sue you otherwise.
“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx
Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. www.sff.net/people/rothman
Cecil’s take:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_146.html