Strong Arm Robbery, My A**...

[jeff47]

111. Who touched who first?

Despite your efforts to turn the clerk into a hero, one person touched the other person first. Who was that? That was the person that legally started the assault.

That was the clerk. The shoplifter was walking out of the store.

How was the clerk required to touch the shoplifter? What forced him to do that instead of calling the police and letting them find the shoplifter?

The clerk used his legal right to assault the shoplifter in response to the crime, in order to assault the shoplifter. The shoplifter, by resisting the assault, can be charged with a more severe crime. But the shoplifter can not be charged with assault. Because the shoplifter didn't start the physical confrontation.