Shoplifting and Red-Handed Crime: Your Legal Questions Answered

Questioner

I was arrested by a supermarket employee after shoplifting a can of drink after I had already left the store and was walking in another street. Is this allowed?

Lawyer

This concerns the concept of flagrante delicto. If you are caught flagrante delicto - or shortly thereafter - committing a criminal act, a citizen may arrest you. The relevant article of law indicates that it must concern a situation in which the criminal act is discovered while it is being committed or 'immediately' thereafter. In this case, that means that not too much time has passed between the time the criminal act was committed and the time it was discovered. Terstond er na can also refer to the pursuit of the suspect. In this case, it is not important how long the pursuit lasts, but also not if one loses sight of the suspect during a pursuit and then regains sight of him. In this case, the discovery in the act during a pursuit remains.

Questioner

It wasn't a red-handed act, I think the employee was warned by a customer, then he came after me, once inside he didn't know what I had in my pocket. Afterwards there was no witness to the incident, and no camera footage, I did admit that I did it had brought drinks with him, to the police who had arrived in the meantime.