🚀 go-pugleaf

Well, all this talk about misdemeanors and citizens' arrest reminds me
of my recent jury duty service...

In short, the defendant claimed that the victim had stolen his car in his
presence.  A chase ensued, and eventually the two got into a fight.  The
car thief then tried to run, but the car owner chased him and caused
some bodily harm in order to restrain him.

There were various other facts in this case, but, after a long and
arduous set of instructions from the judge regarding citizen's arrest
powers, self-defense, and stopping a fleeing felon, we, the jury, found
the the defendant guilty of _felonious assault_, a 2nd degree felony
in Ohio.

So, the moral of the story is, do not ever attempt to enforce a citizens
arrest.  Do not use force to stop somebody for a property violation.
And if this happens to you, promptly swear out a complaint with the
police department.  As we understood the judges instructions, use of force
(particularly deadly force which, by the way, can be just about anything)
to stop a crimminal (felony or misdemeanor) for a non-life threatening
situation, by a private citizen (that is, somebody not possessing a
peace officer's commission issued by the State), *is itself a felony*.
I have no question that our jury would have found those Meijer security
guards gulity of felonious assault.