(See General Order 438.15: Domestics)
The Minnesota statutes provide a number of exceptions to the in-presence requirements for arrests by police or private citizens.
Theft in Business Establishments:
Merchants and their employees may detain a theft suspect if there is reasonable cause for believing s/he has taken or is in the act of taking an article of value without paying for it from the merchants place of business or from any vehicle or premises under the merchants control. The person detained must be promptly informed of the purpose of the detention and may not be subjected to unnecessary or unreasonable force, nor to interrogation against her/his will. The sole purpose of the detention is to deliver the suspect to a police officer without unnecessary delay, and the officer is then authorized to make an arrest for theft on reasonable cause, without a warrant. (Minnesota Statutes 629.365, 629.366)
Domestic Abuse:
A police officer may make a warrantless arrest of a person anywhere, including at the persons place of residence, if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person within the preceding 24 hours has assaulted, threatened with a dangerous weapon, or placed in fear of immediate bodily harm, her/his spouse, former spouse, or other person with whom s/he resides or formerly resided, or other person with whom the person has a child or an unborn child in common, regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time. Family or household members means spouses, former spouses, parents and children, persons related by blood, persons who are or have resided together, persons who have a child in common and persons, who have or have had a significant romantic or sexual relationship. The arrest may be made even though the assault did not take place in the presence of the police officer. (Minnesota Statute 629.341)
Violation of an Order for Protection or a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order:
A police officer shall arrest without a warrant and take into custody a person whom the police officer has probable cause to believe has violated an order for protection or a domestic abuse no contact order, even if the violation of the order did not take place in the presence of the police officer, if the existence of the order can be verified by the officer. (Minnesota Statute 518B.01, subdivision 14(e) and subdivision 21(d))
Driving While under the Influence:
As discussed more fully in Rule 4 of Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure, Minnesota DUI law provides that a police officer may lawfully arrest a person [for DUI] without a warrant upon probable cause, without regard to whether the violation was committed in the officers presence. (Minnesota Statute 169A.40)
Revised July 1, 2011