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-   -   Dave and Busters behavior (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diningbuzz/842589-dave-busters-behavior.html)

4444 Jul 8, 2008 2:46 pm


Originally Posted by GoingAway (Post 10001824)
This sounds so wrong - IANAL and have no basis but there is no way I'd assist you here and all I see happening is you being charged with assault. As I see your example, I'd say no and not go anywhere but towards the door. You attempt to in any way touch me to stop that progress and delay in contacting the police, as well? I do believe I get a little settlement out of that encounter .... I don't recommend you following your own advice unless you want to be on the wrong end of the courtroom. You would certainly be found guilty of assault at a minimum for your hands and any force to my person.


Back on the topic of DiningBuzz - I really don't care for D&B's food, but don't mind a bit of time every now and again with the games.

lol. i'm not a d&b fan myself. i am not a legal expert but my attorney/agent is sitting here. we are having a good laugh over this whole thing. first off i am gettiing made fun of for spending time on an internet forum. screw him. i just found this place. he says that false imprisonment is a grey area. the grey being what is a "substantial" amount of time. also the law and real world applications are sometimes 2 different things. luckily i have friends high enough to not need a lawyer except for financial reasons. lol. good thing as i dont know if i would trust the fool sitting next to me.... off to the golfcourse to try to beat the darkness. good night all!

aviators99 Jul 8, 2008 8:21 pm

By the way, I had assumed they had already called the police during the whole 20 minutes I was waiting. Anything else would have been ludicrous...which is turned out to be.

Science Drone Jul 8, 2008 11:51 pm


Originally Posted by flyerwife (Post 9999689)
Keeping the patrons inside may have overstepped the Code Adam rules a bit and they definitely need to retrain their employees.

They definitely overstepped the rules. Code Adam is about stopping somebody from walking out with a kidnapped child -- they shouldn't be stopping people who don't have a kid. (If somebody does have a kid, they need to try to verify that the kid is with the correct adult; the smart way to do it is to have the missing child's parent at the exit to look at kids.)

But like most complex rules, your typical food service or retail employee probably hasn't been well-trained for a Code Adam. Check out this crazy thread from The Consumerist where a Wal-Mart security guard tried to "rescue" the wrong baby.

JayBrian Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm

Did they find the missing child?

PTravel Jul 10, 2008 10:12 pm


Originally Posted by 4444 (Post 10001521)
i see the term false imprisonment thrown all over these forums. it is not false imprisonment to keep people for a reasonable period of time to investigate a potential problem.

Absolutely and completely wrong. "False imprisonment" is keeping someone from leaving by force or fear of force. Period. There's no, "I've got a good reason" exception. Civilians can detain someone by placing them under citizens arrest (and may use force to do so). They will, however, be liable for false imprisonment, false arrest, assault and battery if they are mistaken (as would have been the case here).


a half hour is hardly a substantial period of "imprisonment".
Sorry, but you don't know the law. There is no "substantial period" requirement.


i agree the police should have been called as soon as possible to deal with the idea a child might be missing but to call the police to claim false imprisonment is just silly.
Not so silly if a person was physically blocked from leaving. That is false imprisonment.


i myself would have calmly walked out the door telling management they would be free to take my plate number if they thought it necessary.
As would I and heaven help the person who tried to stop me.

4444 Jul 11, 2008 10:21 am

i must be reading the law differently..........
 
Shopkeeper's Privilege
A store owner holds the common law shopkeeper's privilege, under which he is allowed to detain a suspected shoplifter on store property for a reasonable period of time, with cause to believe that the person detained in fact committed, or attempted to commit theft of store property. The shopkeeper's privilege, although recognized in most jurisdictions, is not as broad a privilege as that of a police officer's, and therefore one must pay special attention to the temporal element -- that is, the shopkeeper may only detain the suspected criminal for a relatively short period of time. This is similar to a general right in many jurisdictions of citizen's arrest of suspected criminals by the public in limited circumstances.
Rationale
This privilege has been justified by the very practical need for some degree of protection for shopkeepers in their dealings with suspected shoplifters. Absent such privilege, a shopkeeper would be faced with the dilemma of either allowing suspects to leave without challenge.

SUSPENDED Jul 11, 2008 11:19 am


Originally Posted by 4444 (Post 10018313)
Shopkeeper's Privilege
A store owner holds the common law shopkeeper's privilege, under which he is allowed to detain a suspected shoplifter on store property for a reasonable period of time, with cause to believe that the person detained in fact committed, or attempted to commit theft of store property. The shopkeeper's privilege, although recognized in most jurisdictions, is not as broad a privilege as that of a police officer's, and therefore one must pay special attention to the temporal element -- that is, the shopkeeper may only detain the suspected criminal for a relatively short period of time. This is similar to a general right in many jurisdictions of citizen's arrest of suspected criminals by the public in limited circumstances.
Rationale
This privilege has been justified by the very practical need for some degree of protection for shopkeepers in their dealings with suspected shoplifters. Absent such privilege, a shopkeeper would be faced with the dilemma of either allowing suspects to leave without challenge.


So you think the OP shoplifted the child then? :confused:

CDTraveler Jul 11, 2008 11:44 am


Originally Posted by aviators99 (Post 9998243)
Ate at D&B for lunch in Milpitas yesterday, and went to leave to make an appointment, and there were employees stationed at the door who wouldn't let anyone leave. "We're sorry, we are not letting anyone leave because we have a missing child."

I have my own kids, so I could relate, so I hung around for a bit. After 20 minutes (other people had been waiting an additional 10 minutes), we were all itching to get out of there. After all, how could keeping people from leaving help locate the child? Also, it had been 1/2 hour and they had not called the police. I suggested to the employee that they call the police, as D&B could not keep the crowd from leaving, but perhaps the police could.

The employee insisted that he could keep us there himself. I let him know about "false imprisonment" and other potential issues, and he called the GM. The GM tried to tell us all we couldn't leave, and someone else mentioned false imprisonment and he eventually let us leave.

In a true case of a missing or abducted child, minutes count and it is not time for amateur detective hour. I would have called the police myself to notify them of an alleged missing child and that the Dave And Busters staff were wasting time and resources detaining people who were clearly not in possession of the child. Let trained professionals deal with the situation, not a restaurant GM.

jfulcher Jul 11, 2008 11:47 am


Originally Posted by 4444 (Post 10001721)
absolutely not true...if i am a shop keeper and i suspect you pocketed a twix bar i have every legal right to take you in the back and question you before calling authorities. i do not, however, have the right to hold you for a substantial period of time without cause. only the worst ambulance chasing attorney would side with the people in the dave and buster situation. a half hour of questioning to possibly find a missing child would most definitely fall under reasonable detainment. a citizens arrest is only permitted if a felony has taken place. you cannot arrest someone for jaywalking. false imprisonment is a misdemeanor so citizens arrest does not apply.

A shopkeeper can only do this for shoplifting not for anything else. So it would not apply here.

4444 Jul 11, 2008 1:24 pm


Originally Posted by SUSPENDED (Post 10018661)
So you think the OP shoplifted the child then? :confused:

lol. no. i was actually responding to ptravel's statement "there is no i've got a good reason exception" to the false imprisonment law. there clearly is. the shopkeepers privilege. how or if it applies to any of this is for lawyers to hack out in court as i'm sure some loser will sue. we wouldnt want to deny any money due anyone for their distress. thank god those folks stranded at the bronx zoo yesterday have already filed suit!!:)

PTravel Jul 11, 2008 5:09 pm


Originally Posted by 4444 (Post 10018313)
Shopkeeper's Privilege
A store owner holds the common law shopkeeper's privilege, under which he is allowed to detain a suspected shoplifter on store property for a reasonable period of time, with cause to believe that the person detained in fact committed, or attempted to commit theft of store property. The shopkeeper's privilege, although recognized in most jurisdictions, is not as broad a privilege as that of a police officer's, and therefore one must pay special attention to the temporal element -- that is, the shopkeeper may only detain the suspected criminal for a relatively short period of time. This is similar to a general right in many jurisdictions of citizen's arrest of suspected criminals by the public in limited circumstances.
Rationale
This privilege has been justified by the very practical need for some degree of protection for shopkeepers in their dealings with suspected shoplifters. Absent such privilege, a shopkeeper would be faced with the dilemma of either allowing suspects to leave without challenge.

Please see the highlight above. This incident had nothing to do with a "suspected shoplifter."

civicmon Jul 11, 2008 5:44 pm

I wouldn't take that.

They're free to verify I have no children with me and then let me go.

If I had a kid along then I could see some possible justification but if you're a single individual with no kids in tow, what benefit is there for anyone in keeping you around? I'd say none and they can see what you look like via security cameras if they somehow believe you're a "person of interest" after the fact.

Nuts :td: :td: :td:

ScubaCat Jul 11, 2008 10:37 pm


Originally Posted by CDTraveler (Post 10018797)
In a true case of a missing or abducted child, minutes count and it is not time for amateur detective hour. I would have called the police myself to notify them of an alleged missing child and that the Dave And Busters staff were wasting time and resources detaining people who were clearly not in possession of the child. Let trained professionals deal with the situation, not a restaurant GM.

I was thinking exactly that when I first read that. Why not just whip out a cell phone and dial 911 yourself?

aviators99 Jul 11, 2008 11:41 pm


Originally Posted by ScubaCat (Post 10021444)
I was thinking exactly that when I first read that. Why not just whip out a cell phone and dial 911 yourself?

I already answered that question. I had assumed that they had already called. It would be ridiculous otherwise.

birdstrike Jul 11, 2008 11:46 pm

D&B is a large, noisy place. I don't find it remarkable that they lose children from time to time.


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