Quote Quoting tokiohotel
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I am a minor (15) and shoplifted. The police were called down to the store however no charges were filed but the policeman took my information. Now I know that I don’t have a criminal record but these are my questions.

I was never taken to a police station but was I still arrested?

While in some aspects the defintion of arrest is not an academic one, here are my thoughts:

By the officer, no. Unless the officer said, "You are under arrest", you were not, since the immediate charging of a crime had to follow.


IF your state permits a citizen's arrest for NON felonies, no to the merchant also.

Why:

1. If you were told you were under citizens arrest, then the law will require the deliverance of your person to a person authorized to take you into custody, which you were not by the officer; OR delivering you themselves to a custodial house, jail, etc., so NO arrest took place.

Even if the law permits citizens arrests as described, merchants I am sure, to do NOT authorize thier agents to do so, merely detaining them under the shoflifting laws suffices without possibly complicating the law and liability for unlawful arrest, false imprisonment etc.