You definitely don't want to initiate physical contact if you can help it, but if they put up a fight, you're justified in matching their force to keep them from leaving. My dad has wrestled quite a few crack heads at his business. Never been sued.
Luckily we live in a country where we're allowed to protect our property.
Castle Law
- BagHead727
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Re: Castle Law
aka "That Guy"
RE: Castle Law
I'm 100% not wrong actually.
You absolutely CANNOT detain another person legally (unless you are licensed as a security guard of some sort don't have specific license information available off the top of my head).
You absolutely without a doubt have 0 legal recourse to detain anyone. Unless they're in your dwelling, at which point you can (and probably should) kill them.
I've researched this quite a bit. Missouri Revised Statutes is a good place to start. Takes a bit of digging which is the only reason I don't have source, but I'm not even remotely unsure of this. 100% positive.
It seems backwards and unfair for the property owner but that's how it is.
Google "can you detain someone trespassing on your property?" or some variant thereof for the general consensus on this, which agrees with what I'm saying.
You absolutely CANNOT detain another person legally (unless you are licensed as a security guard of some sort don't have specific license information available off the top of my head).
You absolutely without a doubt have 0 legal recourse to detain anyone. Unless they're in your dwelling, at which point you can (and probably should) kill them.
I've researched this quite a bit. Missouri Revised Statutes is a good place to start. Takes a bit of digging which is the only reason I don't have source, but I'm not even remotely unsure of this. 100% positive.
It seems backwards and unfair for the property owner but that's how it is.
Google "can you detain someone trespassing on your property?" or some variant thereof for the general consensus on this, which agrees with what I'm saying.
RE: Castle Law
Edit: shopkeepers privilege is a thing.
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stath ... 01251.html
But this is trespassing, not shoplifting. You cannot detain a trespasser.
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stath ... 01251.html
But this is trespassing, not shoplifting. You cannot detain a trespasser.
- BagHead727
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Re: Castle Law
I never said you could detain a trespasser. I said you can 100% detain a person if you believe they have stolen or vandalized your property. Re-read my initial response to your post if you have to. This is a fact.
aka "That Guy"
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Re: Castle Law
I'll even re-post it for you.BagHead727 wrote:I agree they can't legally shoot you unless you're displaying some sort of weapon, but they probably can detain you. Just think of any other private business. If the owner/management believes you have stolen something or vandalized something, they can detain you until police arrive.
*Edit: and in the eyes of any judge, if you have broken into someone's business, it's probably reasonable for the owner to assume you've broken in to steal or vandalize something. Most owners are not going to think "oh this guy broke into my work place so he can take photographs."
aka "That Guy"
RE: Castle Law
Ok if they know you were stealing then they can detain you.
But if you weren't stealing and they physically restrained you in order to keep you on premises, then they've done fucked up and are open to civil liabilities.
You can't physically detain someone for trespassing is what my point was. You can make them think you'll shoot them and convince them to stay on their own will until police arrive, but you can't actually force them to stay.
You changed the stance of the argument to a shoplifting perspective and I made the mistake in saying a store manager can't detain you at which point you told me I was wrong. Yes, I was wrong to a degree. They can detain you if they witness theft. But a store person cannot detain you unless they visibly confirmed you stole from them.
But if you weren't stealing and they physically restrained you in order to keep you on premises, then they've done fucked up and are open to civil liabilities.
You can't physically detain someone for trespassing is what my point was. You can make them think you'll shoot them and convince them to stay on their own will until police arrive, but you can't actually force them to stay.
You changed the stance of the argument to a shoplifting perspective and I made the mistake in saying a store manager can't detain you at which point you told me I was wrong. Yes, I was wrong to a degree. They can detain you if they witness theft. But a store person cannot detain you unless they visibly confirmed you stole from them.