Edwards v. State, 462 So. 2d 581 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). · Go Syfert
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Edwards v. State, 462 So. 2d 581 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
“at common law, a private citizen may arrest a person who in the citizen's presence commits a felony or breach of the peace.”
47 citation events (19 in the last 25 years) across 11 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Raulerson v. State of Florida (fladistctapp, 2025-04-30)
Treatment trajectory · 1985 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1985 2005 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 16 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (verbatim quote) Raulerson v. State of Florida
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2025 · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence high
at common law, a private citizen may arrest a person who in the citizen's presence commits a felony or breach of the peace.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Mattos v. State (2×)
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2016 · confidence medium
“At common law, a private citizen may arrest a person who in the citizen’s presence commits a felony or breach of the peace[.]” Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) (citations omitted).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Dougan v. Bradshaw
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2016 · confidence medium
A breach of the peace includes the violation of any law enacted to .preserve peace and good order.’ ” Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) (internal citations omitted) (quoting B.A.A. v. State, 333 So.2d 552, 554 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) State v. Price
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2011 · confidence medium
This case is similar to Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), in which the Fourth District noted that “at common law, a private citizen may arrest a person who in the citizen’s presence commits a felony or breach of the peace, or a felony having occurred, the citizen believes this person committed it.” In Edwards , the court held that the appellant’s conduct amounted to a breach of the peace where he was driving his pickup truck in a dangerous fashion.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Roberts v. Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2008 · confidence medium
See Clinton v. State, 421 So.2d 186, 188 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (recognizing that citizens have a “right to arrest a person who commits a misdemeanor in their presence when said misdemeanor amounts to breach of the peace”); State v. Furr, 723 So.2d 842, 844-45 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (determining that Furr’s drunk driving was a breach of the peace that authorized an officer outside his jurisdiction to make a citizen’s arrest); Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) (determining that Edwards’ erratic and dangerous driving amounted to a breach of the peace, justifying a citiz…
cited Cited as authority (rule) State of Arizona v. Max Valencia Chavez
Ariz. Ct. App. · 2004 · confidence medium
E.g., Edwards v. State, 462 So. 2d 581, 582 (Fla. Dist.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) State v. Chavez
Ariz. Ct. App. · 2004 · confidence medium
E.g., Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1985); People v. Niedzwiedz, 268 Ill.App.3d 119 , 205 Ill.Dec. 837 , 644 N.E.2d 53, 55 (1994); Commonwealth v. *609 Gorman, 288 Mass. 294 , 192 N.E. 618, 620 (1934); City of Troy v. Cummins, 107 Ohio App. 318 , 159 N.E .2d 239, 242 (1958); Romo v. State, 577 S.W.2d 251, 253 (Tex.Crim.App.1979); State ex rel.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Shepherd
cma · 1991 · confidence medium
See State v. Phoenix, 428 So.2d 262, 265 (Fla.App. 4 Dist.1982), approved, 455 So.2d 1024 (Fla.1984); San-Martin v. State, 562 So.2d 776 (Fla.App. 2 Dist.1990); State v. Brown, 558 So.2d 1054, 1058 (Fla.App. 2 Dist.1990); State v. Tamburri, 463 So.2d 489, 491 (Fla.App. 2 Dist. 1985); Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla.App. 4 Dist. 1985).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Schwartz v. State (2×) also: Cited "see"
Fla. Cir. Ct. · 1990 · confidence medium
Moll v U.S., 413 F.2d 1233 (5th Cir. 1969); Edwards v State, 462 So.2d 581, 581 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); State v Schuyler, supra, at 460 .
discussed Cited "see" STATE OF FLORIDA vs EDUARDO ARTURO TORRES
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2022 · signal: see · confidence high
See 7 Edwards v. State, 462 So. 2d 581 , 582–83 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). 6 outside of his territorial jurisdiction, used the color of his office to obtain this evidence that a private citizen, under the implied consent statute, could not have obtained.
cited Cited "see" STATE OF FLORIDA vs EDUARDO ARTURO TORRES
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 2022 · signal: see · confidence high
See 6 Edwards v. State, 462 So. 2d 581 , 582–83 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). 6 that would not be available to a similarly-situated private citizen.
cited Cited "see, e.g." State of Florida v. Bryan Allen Repple
Fla. · 2025 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence medium
See, e.g., Edwards v. State, 462 So. 2d 581, 582 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). 2.
discussed Cited "see, e.g." State v. Arroyos
N.M. Ct. App. · 2005 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence medium
See, e.g., Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1985) (“We cannot think of a more apt illustration of such breach of the individual and collective peace of the people ... than to have a drunk driver at the wheel of a killing machine that is going all over the road and scaring oncoming drivers to death rather than killing them.”); Molan v. State, 614 P.2d 79, 80 (Okla.Crim.App. 1980) (“This [c]ourt has held that a law enforcement officer outside his jurisdiction may make a citizen’s arrest.”); State v. Johnson, 661 S.W.2d 854, 859 (Tenn.1983) (acknowledging that a dep…
discussed Cited "see, e.g." State Ex Rel. State v. Gustke
W. Va. · 1999 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence medium
See, e.g., Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581, 582 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1985) (“We cannot think of a more apt illustration of such breach of the individual and collective peace of the people of Okeechobee County than to have a drunk driver at the wheel of a killing machine that is going all over the road and scaring oncoming drivers to death rather than killing them.”); Commonwealth v. Gorman, 288 Mass. 294, 299 , 192 N.E. 618, 620 (1934) (addressing the issue of a warrantless arrest by a police officer for the offense of driving under the influence and stating that being under the influence of i…
discussed Cited "see, e.g." State v. McAteer (2×)
S.C. Ct. App. · 1998 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1985) (holding off-duty police officer, outside of his jurisdiction, made a valid citizen's arrest of an intoxicated driver); City of Waukesha v. Gorz, 166 Wis.2d 243 , 479 N.W.2d 221 (Wis.Ct.App.1991), review denied, 482 N.W.2d 107 (Wis.1992) (holding driving while intoxicated is a breach of the peace, an offense for which a police officer, acting outside his jurisdiction, may make a valid citizen's arrest).
cited Cited "see, e.g." Steiner v. State
Fla. Dist. Ct. App. · 1997 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also State v. Boynton, 556 So.2d 428 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) and Edwards v. State, 462 So.2d 581 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), rev. denied 475 So.2d 694 .
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Robert B. EDWARDS, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.
84-2154.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
Jan 23, 1985.
462 So. 2d 581
Glickstein.
Cited by 24 opinions  |  Published
1 passage pin-cited by 1 case
Pinpoint authority: bottom 72%
Citer courts: District Court of Appeal of Fl… (1)

Ted B. Edwards, of Akerman, Senterfitt & Eidson, Orlando, for petitioner.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Sarah B. Mayer, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for respondent.

GLICKSTEIN, Judge.

Petitioner seeks review by writ of certiorari of the circuit court's affirmance of the[*582] county court's denial of a motion to suppress. We deny the petition but opt to write because of the uniqueness of the legal issue.

The facts that precipitated all of this judicial attention began at about 9:30 p.m. on July 22, 1983, when petitioner was driving his pickup truck on a highway outside the city limits of Okeechobee in a dangerous fashion. An off-duty law enforcement officer from Okeechobee and an auxiliary officer were behind petitioner in the auxiliary officer's van and followed him for about five miles. In that distance, they observed him crossing the center line three to seven times. Most important, petitioner's erratic driving forced approaching vehicles to run onto the berm. As for being a danger to himself, both officers testified that petitioner almost hit a bridge abutment before coming to a halt after being signalled to stop.

The off-duty officer approached petitioner after the stop and identified himself as such. He was not in uniform, displayed no badge, and had neither weapons nor handcuffs. He examined and retained petitioner's driver's license; and although he did not arrest petitioner or give him a sobriety test, he clearly detained him. While waiting for a highway patrolman to appear petitioner admitted he had imbibed too much. Thirty minutes later he failed the patrolman's roadside sobriety tests, whereupon the patrolman transported petitioner to the county jail, where he failed a breathalyzer test. Petitioner was then formally arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Petitioner unsuccessfully sought to suppress the test results, the state's witnesses' testimony about his visual appearance at the time, and his own statements, as fruits of an illegal arrest. When his suppression motion was rejected in county court, he pled nolo contendere but reserved the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. His appeal to the circuit court also failed, and he petitioned this court for writ of common law certiorari. The issue before us is whether the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law when it affirmed the county court's denial of petitioner's motion to suppress, inasmuch as an off-duty officer outside his jurisdiction may not detain a person under color of office unless a private citizen could arrest that person; and there is no common law right of a private citizen to arrest someone for committing a misdemeanor that is not a breach of the peace.

The circuit court found that Officer Ammons, the off-duty officer, did not employ any special police powers in arresting petitioner, and that the "under color of office" doctrine did not apply. It also held that Officer Ammons properly exercised his power as a private citizen to arrest petitioner, whose conduct constituted a breach of the peace because it posed a threat to himself, other motorists and pedestrians. We agree with that conclusion.

It is clear that a police officer in fresh pursuit of a felon or misdemeanant or violator of traffic laws has the right of arrest outside his jurisdiction. See Cheatem v. State, 416 So.2d 35 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). None of those was applicable here, placing Officer Ammons in the same position as a private citizen. At common law, a private citizen may arrest a person who in the citizen's presence commits a felony or breach of the peace, or a felony having occurred, the citizen believes this person committed it. State v. Schuyler, 390 So.2d 458, 460 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); and Schachter v. State, 338 So.2d 269, 270 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). Neither Officer Ammons' identification of himself as an off-duty law enforcement officer nor his offer to show petitioner his badge constitutes acting under color of office. See Phoenix v. State, 455 So.2d 1024 (Fla. 1984).

The issue boils down to whether petitioner's conduct amounts to a breach of the peace. We cannot think of a more apt illustration of such breach of the individual and collective peace of the people in Okeechobee County than to have a drunk driver at the wheel of a killing machine that is going all over the road and scaring oncoming drivers to death rather than killing them. What is petitioner's view of a[*583] breach of the peace? Is it that the drivers of the oncoming vehicles who were forced onto the berm should have been forced completely off the road or actually hit? Is it that only those incidents which occur on foot or in areas of assembly can constitute a breach of the peace? Is it that repeatedly honking an automobile horn late at night is a breach of the peace but that causing other drivers to leave their lane of travel out of fear or great concern is not?

In B.A.A. v. State, 333 So.2d 552, 554 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), the court said:

In the instant case the arrest was valid because the defendant was loitering under circumstances which threatened a breach of peace or a disruption of traffic. There is no statute defining a breach of the peace in Florida and, in the absence of an ordinance defining the breach of the peace, the existence of a breach of the peace depends upon the common law. Op.Atty.Gen. 056-296, October 2, 1956. "Breach of the peace" is a generic term including all violations of the public peace, order or decorum. 11 C.J.S. Breach of the Peace § 1 (1938). A breach of the peace includes the violation of any law enacted to preserve peace and good order. Miles v. State, 30 Okla. Cr. 302, 236 P. 57, 44 A.L.R. 129 (1925). (Emphasis in original)

The law resembles the dance or any other form of human experience in that its life is dependent upon evolving discovery. Only when the law imitates the legendary ostrich does Samuel Johnson's rancorous condemnation seem hard to wash off. So we not only feel comfortable in considering petitioner's conduct a breach of the peace, we also feel petitioner and his Okeechobee neighbors are fortunate that we are discussing only a breach of the peace and not a highway disaster. Someone must have been watching over all of them at 9:30 p.m. on July 22, 1983, when petitioner was behind the wheel, drunk, on a public highway.

DELL, J., concurs.

WALDEN, J., concurs in conclusion only.