Justin Bieber’s neighbors at his Beverly Hills condo have been told by cops they can place the singer under citizen’s arrest if they see him commit a crime. It follows noise complaints and allegations of drug use at a party held at Bieber’s this past weekend, to which police responded four times for noise and twice for fans’ misconduct — totaling six complaints.
Justin Bieber’s already adversarial relationship with residents at his Beverly Hills condo has taken a turn for the worse.
TMZ claims Beverly Hills cops have advised luxe condo neighbors they can make a citizen’s arrest of Bieber – presumably if they see him committing a crime – and not just for being 20, super-rich and able to get laid more than men twice his age.
This frankly radical development comes after police reportedly spoke to Bieber, management and condo residents about excessive noise at the singer’s parties from June to a full-on rave this weekend, communal hallways and elevators stinking of marijuana, claims of alcohol use and litter infringements.
Beverly Hills Police Sgt. Matt Subin told the Los Angeles Times , officers responded six times to the condo this weekend, twice for fan misconduct and four from residents complaining of noise coming from Bieber’s party.
As per CNN , Subin added:
“We ask for Mr. Bieber to be respectful of his neighbors — and to the community of Beverly Hills — and take the bull by the horns and actually turn down the music and limit the size of his parties in consideration for the sleeping child and elderly residents.”
TMZ estimates around 75 guest piled into Bieber’s rooftop pad on Saturday and about 20 Sunday.
The Canadian star wasn’t cited by attending police, but he was given verbal warnings. Bieber was given two-years probation for egging the house of his ex-neighbor in Calabasas, Calif., after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor vandalism charge on July 10.
A citizen’s arrest, police citation and/or committal of a crime could violate that probation and lead to a jail sentence for Bieber if the Los Angeles County Probation Department acted on any of those hypothetical items.
Despite a range of seemingly longstanding neighbor’s complaints — albeit all are typical frat house goings-on — Beverly Hills police reportedly advised residents that cops can’t make an arrest for a misdemeanor if they didn’t see it happen.
However, TMZ report police told residents they can place Bieber under citizen’s arrest and “take matters into their own hands.”
The gossip site claims residents said [alleged] drug use at Bieber’s party at the weekend was obvious. Notably, no-one said the singer was seen taking the same drug that’s apparently so hilarious when openly admitted to by Rihanna and Seth Rogen , but not so with the Biebs.
An unidentified person allegedly told TMZ : “There were bimbos lining up to do drugs in the lobby bathroom.”
Could anything go wrong with residents making a citizen’s arrest of Bieber?
Based on ongoing civil lawsuit cases brought by paparazzo against the pop star, any attempt at a citizen’s arrest would be met by physical resistance by his bodyguards. This in turn may lead to civil or criminal complaints made against the singer and his security , which could be an unfair burden to Bieber and the basis for a lawsuit filed by him against the police and a suing “citizen.”
Contrary to popular opinion, citizen’s arrests don’t sanction vigilantism, but are actions which can be taken when law enforcement isn’t around to make an arrest or isn’t allowed under the law. Generally, a citizen’s arrest can be made if:
“Someone is in the act of committing an indictable offence; or whom the person has reasonable grounds to suspect is committing an indictable offence.”
It’s advised that a person (s) making such an arrest does so carefully and respectfully, using reasonable and proportionate use of force, and attempts to transfer the person arrested over to police as soon as possible.
Typically, a citizen’s arrests of Bieber could be made to a) prevent him causing physical injury to himself or any other person; (b) suffering physical injury; (c) causing loss of or damage to property; or (d) leaving before a cop can assume responsibility for him and e) where another person is in fear of being harmed through an assault, affray, riot, unlawful assembly or other disturbance.
Constitutional rights such as Fourth Amendment restrictions against unreasonable searches and seizures and need for a warrant are not applicable if a citizen authorizes themselves to arrest someone. This apparently changes if a law enforcement officer requests a citizen to make the arrest , which is allegedly the case with Bieber’s neighbors and Beverly Hills cops .
In which case, Bieber’s constitutional rights would apply.
Bottom line? If Bieber is injured while being arrested by a citizen, he can likely sue whoever arrested him — and possibly — the Beverly Hills police department.
Previous cases of citizen’s arrests gone wrong — where say, the arrested later accuses the citizen of assault or kidnap or a family sues for wrongful death from deadly use of force — show these arrests are not without risk for both parties.
Perhaps the best advice for the Biebs in his beyond repair relationship with condo residents is for him to leave immediately and find a noise-absorbent property to live without neighbors, before Calabasas:The Sequel gets a final, tragic scene.