A lesson for us all

Chrissa tried to citizen's arrest me today for running a red light. She asked: "Are you evading arrest if you don't let me arrest you?"

As always, my first instinct is to make up an answer. (Which I tried.) Unfortunately Chrissa is very wise in the ways of the force and sensed that I was being excessively creative. "Don't tell me if you don't know," she said.

I admitted that I don't know, but vowed on my soul to find out and post the answer on my blog...

• All states allow citizens' arrests when citizens have witnessed a felony (or if your help is requested by the police); there are different state laws as far as misdemeanors are concerned.
• If you use physical force to apprehend the subject, you may be subject to charges of impersonating police, false imprisonment, kidnapping, or wrongful arrest.

So a "citizen's arrest" is actually pretty weak. According to another site I looked at, a citizen's arrest is merely calling the police when you see a crime and then testifying in court as a witness.

To sum up: Chrissa would have been infringing on my rights if she had tried to "Batman" me to the side of the road. However, it would be within her legal rights to report me to the federales. In which case, I would jump the border since she doesn't speak Spanish.