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Can McDonalds arrest you for paying with counterfeit money?

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Kady1

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN

My husband went in to McDonalds for food and gave them a $10.00 bill that was counterfeit (which he didn't know it was). The staff didn't let him know that they were detaining him until the police could get there. They kept telling him they had to fix the juice machine and he would have to wait. The police came (5 of them) and took him out in the parking lot and handcuffed him and placed him under temporary arrest. He told them he must of received the bill from his work. After detaining him for approximately 30 minutes, they let him go and said a detective would be contacting him (which never has). This incident happened about 3 weeks ago. It was embarrassing for him. I want to know if it is legal for McDonalds to call the police and if the police had a right to handcuff him? Would he have a legal suit against either one of them? We asked a friend that works at a bank and he said they can't even get you arrested for passing a counterfeit bill. Thank you.
 


Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
McDonald's did not arrest him. They tricked him into staying until the police arrived. He was free to leave at any time, so there was no arrest.

Even so, the crime (passing counterfeit bills) was committed in the presence of a private citizen. That is enough reason for a 'citizen's arrest'.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
And your friend at the bank is wrong.

Your husband has already given a statement to the police. There is no need or benefit to speaking with them any further. If a detective contacts you I would decline to talk to them.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Knowingly possessing or passing counterfeit money is a crime. It is reasonable for a business to assume that someone passing such a bill is doing so knowingly. The employees were well within their rights to stall him while they awaited the police. In fact, unless Indiana has some strange law that prohibits provate person's arrests, they would have been within their rights to have placed him under a private person's arrest and await the police.

Your husband would appear to have NO grounds to sue anyone.
 

BOR

Senior Member
I don't know about IN, but may state only permits a citizens arrest for a Felony.

Since no person told him he was "under citizens arrest" or some such phraseology, he was not.

Now the question progresses to was it a "detainment" and if it was, was it legal?

Since he not told they were detaining him until the police arrived, he was "free to leave", as any citizen is, with a private person or the police.

IF he was told he was being detained for the police to arrive, in my state this would be called a "Restraint of Liberty", and no person may effect it without "privilege to do so". Here I would see such a provision.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
so how is the ordinary citizen suppose to know he or she is in possession of counterfit money?
This is why intent must be proven for a conviction. However, a detention - even an arrest - does not require such a burden of proof.

Most of us can look at our money and know whether it is funny money or not.
 

Kady1

Junior Member
Thanks for all the input

Well to put some answers to your statements. My husband was not passing counterfeit bills or printing them which I know is a felony. It was an innocent mistake. He along with pretty much the rest of the population usually trust people when they receive money or hand it out that it is not counterfeit. Are we suppose to look at every bill before we pass it on? I don't think the average person would know if they had a counterfeit bill in their wallet or purse unless it was such a sloppy job at making it. I've heard that some of the bills out there are pretty darn good. No, McDonalds did not arrest him, they just detained him and called the police. If they were so worried about this situation, then like most said, why didn't they place him under citizens arrest? My husband could of left at any time but he didn't know he was doing anything wrong so like everyone else, he waited for his food. By the time the police had gotten there (which was pretty quick), he couldn't of left because they had every door covered. Why would he leave anyway when like I said, he wasn't doing anything wrong. And YES, he was handcuffed and placed under arrest (guess some of you really didn't understand I mentioned that before). When a policeman tells you that you are under arrest, I would tend to believe him. Does this give the police the right to go through his wallet and money without a search warrant because they did. I don't believe my friend that works at the bank is wrong when he tells me his policies at the bank that he has worked for 7 years would not call the police or detain you on counterfeit money. He said they would just keep it and you would lose the money. I agree that our money looks like monopoly money. This happened in a small town where the police have nothing to do so the whole department shows up. I thought they were small town hicks but after reading some of your comments, my judgement was wrong again about some.
 

swalsh411

Senior Member
For the 679th time, McDonalds did not "detain" your husband. How many times does this have to be said? Or are you purposefully ignoring the definition of the term because you want to be able to tell people your husband was detained? They tricked him into staying; that is not detainment.

Yes if arrested for passing counterfeit the police can go through his wallet to look for more counterfeit without her permission just like a person arrested for drug possession can be searched for more drugs.

As to why they didn't place him under citizens arrest.... do you really need that explained to you? Assuming for a minute that they even could, attempting to detain (and it would be detainment, unlike what actually happened) a person significantly increases the chances that the situation will escalate to violence, and the average McDonalds employee is not trained or paid enough to deal with that. It makes much more sense from a liability perspective to trick the customer into staying until the professionals get there.
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
Whether he did so intentionally or unintentionally, your husband tried to pay with counterfeit money. Of course the police are going to investigate, and of course they're going to detain him according to their policies until they've obtained the information they need.

He hasn't been charged and he hasn't been convicted. In fact, so far the only thing that can be proven is that he did attempt to use counterfeit money. If the police are willing to just take his word that he didn't print it, he should consider himself lucky instead of trying to sue the police for doing their jobs.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Kady1;2565562]Well to put some answers to your statements. My husband was not passing counterfeit bills or printing them which I know is a felony
.well, if the money was counterfeit, he was obviously passing counterfeit money. What is important was: was it knowingly.


.
Are we suppose to look at every bill before we pass it on?
in today's world, it actually would be a good idea.

No, McDonalds did not arrest him, they just detained him and called the police
. McDonalds didn't even detain him by the legal definition concerning police acts. At best, they delayed him which is totally legal. You might say they even duped him. Again, totally legal.

If they were so worried about this situation, then like most said, why didn't they place him under citizens arrest?
because they are not the police and it brings liability onto them they want to avoid.


My husband could of left at any time but he didn't know he was doing anything wrong so like everyone else, he waited for his food.
yep, duped

By the time the police had gotten there (which was pretty quick), he couldn't of left because they had every door covered.
then he could consider himself detained but it was the police doing it, not McD's.

And YES, he was handcuffed and placed under arrest (guess some of you really didn't understand I mentioned that before). When a policeman tells you that you are under arrest, I would tend to believe him. Does this give the police the right to go through his wallet and money without a search warrant because they did.
why yes it does.


I don't believe my friend that works at the bank is wrong when he tells me his policies at the bank that he has worked for 7 years would not call the police or detain you on counterfeit money
I can tell you from a few friends experience: she is wrong. Maybe her bank wouldn't but every other one I know of would. If not, they get stuck with the bad money and they lose whatever the bill is supposed to be worth.

. He said they would just keep it and you would lose the money
.It doesn't work that way. You see, the bank would then be acting as the police and then they would have a bunch of rules to abide by. One being: you cannot just keep somebody else's property without legal justification. That is called theft.

. This happened in a small town where the police have nothing to do so the whole department shows up
.just wait. He might still get a visit from the Secret Service or the FBI as that is who investigates counterfeiting of money. Counterfeiting money is a federal crime so the feds have jurisdiction and that is who would have to prosecute so, wait for some more company.
 

Kady1

Junior Member
For the 679th time, McDonalds did not "detain" your husband. How many times does this have to be said? Or are you purposefully ignoring the definition of the term because you want to be able to tell people your husband was detained? They tricked him into staying; that is not detainment.

Yes if arrested for passing counterfeit the police can go through his wallet to look for more counterfeit without her permission just like a person arrested for drug possession can be searched for more drugs.

As to why they didn't place him under citizens arrest.... do you really need that explained to you? Assuming for a minute that they even could, attempting to detain (and it would be detainment, unlike what actually happened) a person significantly increases the chances that the situation will escalate to violence, and the average McDonalds employee is not trained or paid enough to deal with that. It makes much more sense from a liability perspective to trick the customer into staying until the professionals get there.
Definition from dictionary.com
To retain:
To keep from proceeding; delay or retard.

So to delay my husband, I think I am using the correct word. Thank you for your definition.
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
So to delay my husband, I think I am using the correct word. Thank you for your definition.
No, you're not. The issue is the legal definition of a detainment, not Webster's. Your husband was free to leave at any time while he was waiting for his juice.
 

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