Ogden Woman Makes Citizen’s Arrest Against Theft Suspects

Sodden reminder: Average Joes shouldn't attempt a citizens' arrest, unless they know exactly what they're doing

At risk of coming off as "late to the party," we'll highlight these uplifting stories from the Standard-Examiner and Fox News 13, who report on a situation which unfolded Sunday afternoon on Ogden's Two-Five Drive, as two 25th Street business owners engaged in a little "self-help," and "took a bite out of crime":

OGDEN -- After a weeks-long social media effort and a few close calls, CJ Bovee finally earned what she called vindication.
The owner of Sock Monkey'n Around Antiques on 25th Street, Bovee was victimized last month when two men and a woman allegedly stole an antique bracelet from her store. But on Sunday, Bovee turned the tables on the alleged perpetrators, when she and a friend took them into custody in a citizen's arrest:

Here's the video story, from the Fox News website:


Charlie Trentelman devotes some electronic ink to this story too:

• "Don't mess with 25th Street?" Wow, have we come a long way

Charlie aptly notes that "making a citizens' arrest is a dicey thing;" and he's right.  Here's the possible "downside" of taking the law into your own hands, straight from Salt Lake Criminal Defense Attorney Clayton Simms' website:

A citizen’s arrest is an arrest made by someone who is not a law enforcement official.  In Utah, you are allowed to make a citizen’s arrest when a crime is committed or attempted in your presence, or when a felony is committed and the citizen has reasonable cause to believe that the person they want to arrest committed the felony.
However, just because Utah gives a citizen the right to make a citizen’s arrest, it does not mean that citizens should be assisting law enforcement all the time.  A person making a citizen’s arrest could expose himself to possible lawsuits by the arrestee or criminal charges if the arrest was done improperly (assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, or wrongful arrest).
Consider what happened to a man who tried to make a citizen’s arrest of Governor Herbert while he was running for Lieutenant Governor in 2004.
U.C.A. § 77-7-3: Arrest by Private Persons;
A private person may arrest another: (1) For a public offense committed or attempted in his presence; or (2) When a felony has been committed and he has reasonable cause to believe the person arrested has committed it.

As noted in the Fox News story, Cindy's a Utah Bail Enforcement licensee, who's had special training, and taken her fair share of criminal fugitives into custody in her lifetime.  In other words, this is a special case, meaning that you average Joes shouldn't attempt a citizens' arrest, unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Interesting side note: this is the second  time within recent memory that we've reported about self-help apprehension by a 25th Street business owner of  a criminal on Two-five Drive, lending credence to the notion that "criminals always return to the scene of the crime," and bolstering the accuracy of Ms. Simones' newly-coined motto: "Don't mess with 25th Street," not to mention Cindy's own, personal "street cred."