While a purse snatch is often only prosecuted as theft and the dollar amounts involved would almost never reach felony proportions, in actuality, if the purse snatched is taken from the person of the person who owns the purse, then you are dealing with robbery, which is always a felony.Jumping Frog wrote:I forget the various conditions spelled out in the CHL course regarding the use of ordinary force (i.e., not deadly force). I recall that holding someone at gunpoint is ordinary force, not deadly force.Keith B wrote:You would NOT have the legal right to pursue and use deadly force once the threat to the woman was gone. It would become a gray area REAL quick for you and the lines of justified pulling your gun would be fuzzy. So, you could end up having to defend yourself against an unjustified use of the gun and trying to scramble to prove what you did was legal.
However, if that lady had $20 in her purse, I don't think ordinary civilians have the right to use force to detain someone for a misdemeanor. Can anyone chime in with what the law says about conditions for use of force?
Sounds real convoluted, doesn't it. Actually it is simple
Thief sneaks up, grabs purse from where it was set down, owner doesn't see it happen, snatcher takes off, owner notices and hollers. Charge is theft.
Thief sneaks up, grabs purse from where it was set down, owner does see it happen, snatcher takes off, owner hollers. Charge is robbery.
Thief sneaks up, grabs purse from owners immediate possession, snatcher takes off, owner hollers. Charge is robbery. Sometimes called robbery by force. If a weapon is seen or threatened, then it is Aggravated Robbery.
Unless someone gets hurt, purse snatching is almost never prosecuted as robbery, though in many cases it could be prosecuted that way.
As to use of force, I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted in Texas for tripping/tackling a purse snatcher and sitting on them until the PD/SD/HP arrive. Of course if the snatcher pulls a weapon all bets are off. Katy bar the door.
