What are the limitations of making a citizen’s arrest in Colorado?
Michael Logerwell
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – After Pueblo Police arrested a man for assaulting a burglary suspect, KRDO13 Investigates wondered: What are the limits around making a citizen’s arrest?
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On July 17, Pueblo Police were dispatched to the 700 block of Joilet Avenue. At the home, they found a man tied up with duct tape and three other men around him.
The man tied up was 21-year-old Joseph Mares. One of the men standing near him was 26-year-old Cruz Alarcon. Both men would end up in handcuffs. Mares for 2nd degree burglary and Alarcon for 2nd degree assault.
Before the police arrived on the scene, neighbors told us there was a whole lot of commotion.
“I heard a lot of screaming, a lot of punching, a lot of fighting.” Nadine Cozzolino told KRDO13 Investigates.
However, the arrest affidavit says there was more than just a fight.
The Pueblo Police Department says security camera footage from a nearby home shows Alarcon threatening a tied-up Mares with a pistol and hitting him with the butt of the gun multiple times, even threatening to kill the man at one point. Then police say Alarcon kicked Mares in the head and stomped on his legs, all while he was still tied up.
Pueblo police say that goes beyond what’s legal in a citizen’s arrest.
KRDO13 Investigates spoke to a local attorney who said the most important part of a citizen’s arrest is that the person making the arrest has to perceive the crime. He said there is some leeway given when making the arrest, but excessive force is prohibited.
The Pueblo Police Department clarified on social media that it was what Alarcon is accused of doing after Mares was tied up that earned him criminal charges.
Both men have bonded out of jail.