Lawyer Construes the Law of Citizens Arrest for DUI in California

California law pertaining to citizen's arrest can be quite complex.  This article attempts to clarify and summarize when a citizen may arrest a person for DUI. A citizen’s arrest for DUI is proper when based on the citizen’s observation that the defendant was driving under the influence; in so doing, the citizen may delegate to a peace officer the act of taking the defendant into physical custody in accordance with Penal Code §837(1)  in fact, according to a Long Beach Criminal Lawyer,  the Courts have held that a citizen may make arrest for misdemeanor DUI committed in his or her presence in many cases. For example, when a parking lot attendant who, observed defendant trying to exit parking facility by driving wrong way and into facility’s entrance gate, summoned officer and reported his observations to officer who made arrest this was considered legal, moreover, when an inspector of Department of Food and Agriculture who stopped defendant’s vehicle at inspection station, observed defendant was intoxicated and reported observations to highway patrol officer who arrested defendant this was also construed as within the citizen's rights.