A licensed peace officer may arrest a person in Minnesota without a warrant under the following circumstances: (1) A person who commits a public offense observed by the police officer may be arrested without a warrant. If the offense is a misdemeanor, the law requires that the person be released on a citation unless it appears that an arrest is necessary to prevent bodily harm to the person or to someone else, or if there is a substantial likelihood that the person will fail to appear in court. (2) A person may also be arrested who commits a felony even though the offense was not observed by the officer. The officer will still need to have reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested committed the offense. (3) If a person is formally charged by criminal complaint with a felony offense, the officer may also arrest the person without a warrant. (4) Gross misdemeanor violations of the following criminal statutes will also permit an officer to arrest you without a warrant: theft, damage to property, check forgery, harassment, and credit card fraud. When an arrest is authorized under any of the above circumstances, a police officer is allowed to break open an outer or inner door or a window of your home in order to make an arrest. Before doing so, you must have refused the officer entry into your home after being given notice by the officer of his authority and purpose.

If you are concerned about being arrested, you should hire a skilled Minneapolis criminal defense attorney for The Best Defense. Robert J. Shane has over 30 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney and will use his experience to negotiate on your behalf to avoid a public arrest. For more information and tips for suspects in a criminal case, or to discuss your case, please call Robert J. Shane at (612) 339-1024.