People v. Roland K.

Opinion

LILLIE, Acting P. J. The minor (age 14) appeals from order sustaining petition which alleged that he came within the provisions of section 602, Welfare and Institutions Code in that he willfully threw a missile at a vehicle and its occupants on a highway with intent to do great bodily harm (§ 23110, subd. (b), Veh. Code), but was sustained on a finding of a violation of section 23110, subdivision (a), a lesser and included offense deemed to be a misdemeanor; and declaring him a ward of the court.

Robert Jacoby, private security guard for Ridgegate Condominiums saw the minor walk across the shuffleboard court to the north wall, then to the flower bed, pick up a rock and throw it into the east (fast) lane of Hawthorne Boulevard; the rock came within seven or eight feet of a moving car; as he started to walk toward him, he saw the minor pick up another rock and throw it over the wall hitting the right back fender of a Ford Granada. Jacoby detained the minor whose custody was later taken by Deputy Finch.

Appellant contends his arrest for a misdemeanor was unlawful under section 625.1, Welfare and Institutions Code, and In re Thierry S., 19 Cal.3d 727 [139 Cal.Rptr. 708, 566 P.2d 610], thus his subsequent confession was inadmissible. In Thierry S. a citizen observed two boys standing near a broken window of a schoolroom which apparently had been vandalized shortly before, and although he had not observed them do anything, he detained them and called a deputy who arrested them for vandalism (pp. 732-733). The court held the arrest was governed by section 625.1 and, because the minor was arrested without a warrant by an officer for a misdemeanor not committed in his presence, the arrest was invalid (p. 745). The court rejected the theory that the custody of the [298]boys was a citizen’s arrest to which the deputy simply provided assistance (§§ 837, 839, Pen. Code), because it was not urged in the trial court and further, the deputy testified that he and no one else placed the boys under arrest. (P. 733, fn. 3.) We also note that the offense had not been committed in the presence of the citizen.

Here the offense was committed in the presence of Jacoby, a private security guard for Shoreline Patrol. The evidence established that initially Jacoby arrested the minor; and the trial court found that Jacoby made a citizen’s arrest and relied on that theory in upholding the subsequent transfer of the minor’s custody to Deputy Finch. A private person may arrest for a misdemeanor if it is committed or attempted in his presence (§ 837, subd. 1, Pen. Code; People v. Lacey, 30 Cal.App.3d 170, 175 [105 Cal.Rptr. 72]; People v. Campbell, 27 Cal.App.3d 849, 853-854 [104 Cal.Rptr. 118]), and the arrest is a valid one and continues even though he transfers custody of the accused to a peace officer (People v. Campbell, supra, 27 Cal.App.3d 849, 853-854; People v. Harris, 256 Cal.App.2d 455, 459-460 [63 Cal.Rptr. 849].)