Art. 214 Arrest by private person; when lawful

Here's a plain English summary of this rule:

An everyday citizen, not just a police officer, can arrest someone if that person committed a felony. It doesn't matter if the citizen actually witnessed the crime happen or not. As long as a felony occurred and the person being arrested is the one who committed it, a private citizen has the legal right to make that arrest.

This gives regular people real power in serious situations. If you know someone committed a serious crime like robbery or assault, even if you didn't see it happen yourself, the law allows you to take action and detain that person. This is different from minor crimes, where citizens generally have much less authority to step in and make an arrest.

That said, this power comes with real risk. If you arrest someone believing they committed a felony and it turns out you were wrong, you could face legal trouble yourself, including claims of false imprisonment. Because of this, private citizens should be very careful and sure of the facts before attempting to arrest someone.