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Can I hold someone hostage?

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Ohiogal

Queen Bee
Defense of others is a defense to crime. Defense of property is not.

If you know the person has committed a crime in your presence, you can make a citizen's arrest. However, if you're wrong, you will be sued and lose. If you use too much force, you will be sued an lose. If the police don't like what you did, you will be arrested and will have to defend yourself in court.
Re the bolded: Are you sure of that? In some states defense of property is a defense to a crime. Castle doctrine. And California does have a castle doctrine.
 
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tranquility

Senior Member
Home is different from "property". The change is the intent.

Note how it is not protecting "property" but people.

California Penal Code Section 198.5

Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or
great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to
have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great
bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that
force is used against another person, not a member of the family or
household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and
forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or
had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred.
As used in this section, great bodily injury means a significant
or substantial physical injury.
It only helps with a self-defense or defense of others claim.
 

KakitaOCU

Member
Not to mention the Castle defense involves protecting your property while you're there. Running outside to defend someone else's property is another story.

And TC, legal stuff aside, coming from a martial artist, and one who's unfortionately been in a few situations. Don't. It's one thing to take action if you're already in the middle of it, you don't really have a choice of not being there then. But don't go looking for it, don't jump into it if it's not to save someone's life.

At the risk of arrogance, I'm very good when it comes to a combat situation. And do you know what my response would be to someone boosting a car in my eye sight? Call the cops and take a picture. Know what my resposne to someone trying to rob me with a firearm would be? Give him my wallet. I can replace posessions. I can't replace my life, and no matter how good I think I am, no matter how unlikely a bad outcome may be, it's still there and it's still not worth the risk.
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
That was my point to the OVERALL perception that you can't protect property. That is why I bolded only that portion.
Right. Even more to the point, that you can't protect, with lethal force, your neighbor's property.

And, incidentally, I think Joe Horn should be rotting in jail.
 

csi7

Senior Member
I would just take pictures, let the actual victims report the theft to the police, and when asked, then present the pictures.
As young as you are, you have no idea what it will be like in twenty years, if this were to show up in a way that does not look like it does at this moment.
 

sefnfot

Member
recently, there was a farmer that got sued for detaining tresspassers on his land with a gun. The tresspassers would litter on his property/ farm. I think this was in AZ.

And I think the judge basically gave the land to the plaintiffs.
 
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