CIUDAD JARDÍN NORTE, SUBA, COLOMBIA – SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 Woman, along with her accomplice, took part in stealing phones. She rode through the city on a motorcycle as a passenger and snatched phones from random pedestrians’ hands. But one of them reacted quickly, knocked her off the motorcycle, and together with other bystanders carried out a so-called citizen arrest restricting her freedom until the police arrived. Her accomplice on the motorcycle betrayed her and fled the scene.
A citizen arrest is one of the few exceptions in most legal systems around the world where an ordinary civilian is allowed to restrict someone’s personal freedom. But it cannot be done arbitrarily. The person must be caught in the act of committing a crime or there must be reasonable suspicion that they committed one. Only proportional force may be used, and the police must also be called to the scene.
