Originally Posted by
SactoDoug
First off, you can't just pepper spray random bums even if they threaten you. As you found out first hand, it turns into he said, she said. If charges were filed against you, it was your own fault.
You assume a familiarity with me that I am unaware of. How do you know me again?
As a matter of fact, I have performed a citizen's arrest when I caught a teenage punk in the middle of the night trying to steal my car. He tried to run, I pushed him back into the car then I informed him that the police were on their way and that he was to stay. He then came towards me again so I pepper sprayed him. 5 minutes later the police where at my house and they easily cuffed the punk and took him to juvenile hall.
No law suite or any other charges were filed against me and the kid got a few months in JH and a couple years of probation until he turned 18. The police officers that responded said that I did everything right.
You were lucky you weren't sued... Doesn't mean that you couldn't have been... and that you wouldn't loose...
I didn't pepper spray a random bum, I pepper sprayed a bum who accosted me, threatened me, and then followed me through the nearly empty streets on my way back to the hotel, then after being warned to keep his distance, approached me in menacing manner... Frankly he was lucky he wasn't back in Texas with me, where my defense option would not have been non-lethal... It was the cop who explained California code, which I later confirmed...
Laws covering citizens arrest are considered "blue laws" for a reason. A citizen has none of the protections against liability that a police officer has. In short, even if the "arrest" is warranted, you can be successfully sued for that arrest and any issues the person wishes to claim...