I was being chased thru the mall by their security, they told me to stop, i said "am i under arrest?", their answer was "no, we are investigating something". I continued to walk away thru a major department store, told by security to stop or i would be hit, I was hit 2-3 times and continues to walk away, went out exit to 2nd floor parking structure. Was told not to run towards stairs or i would be pushed down, ran 2 flights down and pushed down on 3rd. Attempted to walk away and was told i was placed under citizens arrest by security. Was placed on stairs, got up to leave (handcuffs on), was grabbed, attempted to pull away and so was dragged to raining and cuffed to it. I said " release me, im not an animal and being held hostage" One of them said (after several mins) "i think you should take him off the railing", i attempted to leave again, and was blocked to do so. I was identified 10 mins later. I was handcuffed for about 1hr15mins more until officer got there n arrested me.
I in no way raised my hands, nor try to assault anyone, just walking.
No one in security witnessed any crime being committed, as stated, was held 10 mins before identified. I was not charged with resisting or assault by the police officers; The department store (where no crime was committed) does have the video tape of offficers trying to stop me from leaving the premises. Will the tape be easy to get, or should i get an attorney to do so?
And as for your comment ( americanfreeman) i guess you already met bubba, can you give any tips on how to defend myself in there? seeing as you want to be the funny guy) This is a forum for answer not jokes.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 americanfreeman // Jul 1, 2008
no, it is a very good and safe way to constrain a criminal.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
Just wait until Big Bubba gets you alone in prison.
2 Mr. Goodhi © // Jul 1, 2008
That sounds illegal to me..
3 tempting_butnothanks // Jul 1, 2008
aside from doing stupid sh!t that gets you in trouble at the mall… no, security cannot forcibly detain you, unless they are a police officer or you physically assaulted someone.
4 whitefangz1 // Jul 1, 2008
The first thing to understand is that private security guards have no special legal authority. They can not lawfully do anything that a normal citizen can't do. They can not legally force you to submit to a search, you do not have to answer their questions, etc.
They can, however, affect a citizen's arrest if they witness you committing a crime. This means that they can use necessary force to detain you until the police arrive. They can also use necessary force to defend themselves from your attack, or defend another person from your attack, but like anyone else they still have a duty to retreat.
The guard was legally within his rights to handcuff you to the railing and detain you until the police arrived. It doesn't matter that it took the police over an hour to arrive.
The part where you were hit is a little more questionable. They would argue, of course, that this amount of force was necessary to detain you. You were, after all, fleeing from the scene of a crime and had disobeyed a lawful command to stop. They were probably within their legal rights to do this, however, if the blows were excessive or were not necessary to detain you then it would be battery. If there were no witnesses to assert that it was a battery then your complaint would probably be disregarded.
Note to Tempting But No Thanks: You might want to look up "citizen's arrest" in your state's law. Every state has a process that allows for citizens arrest.
Security guards would be rather ineffective if they couldn't affect a citizen's arrest.
Guard: I saw you steal that shirt. Come along with me.
Suspect: Uhm, no thanks, I'll be leaving now.
Guard: Okay. Have a nice day.
UPDATE: Security does not need to witness the theft if they are informed by a store employee who did witness the theft. The security guard can affect a citizen's arrest by proxy for the store that is serving as the complainant. You are entitled to the video footage as part of the normal discovery process if you take your case to trial. It doesn't sound like the tape helps you though since it probably shows you fleeing from the security guards. This makes you look rather guilty. Even if they didn't catch you on tape stealing, they have a witness who is stating that you did. You don't mention if they found the stolen item in your possession or not. If they did, that is their case right there. If not, then their case will be very weak.
You wouldn't have been charged with resisting arrest because that only applies if you resist arrest from the police, not security guards. If you can afford an attorney, it's always a good idea to have one. If you can't afford one, they will provide you with one when your court proceedings begin.
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