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Marshall v. State6/25/1997
t; or
(iii) The following misdemeanors committed in his presence:
(A) A misdemeanor larceny offense defined by W.S. 6-3-402(a) or (e); or
(B) A misdemeanor property destruction offense defined by W.S. 6-3-201.
The plain language of the first phrase would appear to render the statute inapplicable to Officer Burch. However, DOT argues that in the situation where a peace officer is outside his jurisdiction, the officer can make a warrantless arrest as a private citizen pursuant to W.S. 7-8-101. We need not address this argument because the arrest in this case clearly falls outside the reach of the statute in another respect. Officer Burch initially suspected that Marshall had committed a felony but, prior to Marshall's arrest, he determined that Marshall had not committed a felony. The officer arrested Marshall for a misdemeanor DWUI. The statute authorizes citizens to make arrests only for felonies or enumerated misdemeanors. DWUI is not an enumerated misdemeanor and, as a result, the arrest could not have been a valid citizen's arrest under the statute. Stahl, 838 P.2d at 1194 n. 1.
CONCLUSION
Campus police officers, like municipal police officers, do not have authority to make arrests outside their territorial boundaries absent fresh pursuit. The fresh pursuit exception applies to permit a peace officer to pursue a suspect fleeing the officer's jurisdiction. Here, Marshall was never within the officer's jurisdiction, so the exception does not apply. The citizen's arrest statute applies only to felonies or enumerated misdemeanors, which do not include DWUI. Officer Burch had no authority to arrest Marshall. As a result, the arrest was unlawful and the provisions of the implied consent statute do not apply. Because the hearing examiner's conclusions of law are not in accordance with law, we reverse and remand to the hearing examiner with directions to enter an order in accordance with this opinion.
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