[hockeycop]

Can not beat the tar out of him. That is excessive and would be considered an assault.

For your friend to make a citizens arrest, he must witness an offence being comitted. For the offence of theft, he should have left the store, or at least crossed over the places where he would normally pay for merchandise.

Here is a general rundown of the Use of Force model that the RCMP and other Federal Agencies go by:

1) Cooperative Subject [listens to your commands] - Verbal direction, and handcuffing if appropriate.

2) Non-Cooperative Subject [doesn't cooperate, but doesnt physically resist - think dirty hippie protestor going limp] - Verbals + Soft Empty Hand Control [joint locks, pressure points, etc]

3) Resistant [actively pulling away from you, attempting escape] - Verbals + Soft + (low end) Hard Empty Hand Control + Intermediate Devices (OC Spray) [distraction knee strikes, impacting muscle tissues (charley horse), etc]

4) Combative [subject is now trying to engage you, not just get away] - Verbals + Soft + Hard Empty + Intermediates (OC+Taser) + Impact Weapons (Baton) - Now the fight is on, start throwing elbows, knees, using weapons, etc.

5) Death or Grievous Bodily Harm [Sub is trying to kill or severely injure you or someone else] - Verbals + Anything goes [Whatever you need to do, up to and including something likely to lead to the death of the subject]

You will notice that I included verbals on everything. Any force you use should be in conjunction with good verbal directions. Remember, you are NOT kicking his ass, you are using appropriate force to gain control over a subject who you intend to arrest.

Don't get in over your head. Small value property is NOT worth a trip to the hospital. Unless you are trained in how to properly stop these types of threats, then call police. Trust me, you do NOT want to have to deal with a Death or GBH level subject (police don't either, but they are prepared for it). You may think it would be cool, but it's not. The constant nightmares suck too.