��һ�ǿ�����

As a man started to abuse staff and tried to leave a downtown Auckland supermarket without paying, news publisher Todd Scott says he acted on instinct - tackling the thief to the ground.��

But after holding him down for 10 minutes as staff called police, the owner of the��National Business Review��said he was surprised by their response, telling him to let the person go or risk being arrested himself.��

“I don’t know what I was thinking, but I fair tackled him,” he told the��Herald. “There were some questions about whether or not I played rugby. I’ve dreamt about it a lot.”��

Scott was at Countdown Metro [now Woolworths Metro], on Lower Albert St, yesterday when he came across an incident involving a person he described as being drunk, aggressive and foul-mouthed who was abusing supermarket staff while trying to leave with boxes of alcohol.��

“I was actually just getting some refreshments and some warm treats for the boys just down the road for the new office and I was getting them from Countdown,” he said.��

“And this massive boof of a man was abusing the staff and stealing alcohol.”��

NBR owner and publisher Todd Scott, who tackled an alleged thief to the ground at an Auckland supermarket, was told by police to let him go.��

Scott said he acted on instinct and did not think that what he was doing was wrong. The security guard stood nearby in support.��

“I was the only person to restrain the individual on the ground and I did so for about 10 minutes while the store manager was on the phone to the police.”��

Scott acknowledged he was surprised, however, when the manager whispered instructions into his ear saying police were advising that he let the person go.��

“I am grateful to the manager of the store for whispering the instructions to me - rather than doing so in an earshot of the thug.��

“This allowed me the upper hand, as the individual thought he was going to jail.”��

Scott said the manager went on to tell him that officers could not come to the scene and that he could not make a citizen’s arrest. He was also told that he himself may be arrested.��

“I invited the cop to arrest me if I had broken the law. He said I could be done for assault - but the victim [or] thief would have to lay charges.”��

In a video he later posted on social media, Scott said he had stopped a police officer on the street after the incident to talk about what had happened and to ask if he had done anything wrong.��

“The moral of the story is don’t get involved.”��

The officer can be heard agreeing not to get involved - and for people to keep themselves safe.��

Scott revealed shortly after the incident and while he was speaking to supermarket management and security, a second man was seen walking out the door with three boxes of alcohol unpaid for.��

The incident happened at Auckland's central city Countdown Metro on Al bert St. Photo / Peter Meecham��

“If more people with the ability to do what I did today could do so without breaking the law, less people would get away with breaking the law,” Scott said.��

Lawyer Michael Bott, who specialises in civil liberties law, said Scott was in the wrong when he attempted to make the citizen’s arrest.��

Bott explained the quirks to the law and that the “shield of immunity” you receive when attempting to detain a member of the public as a citizen only applies between the hours of 9pm and 6am, or if the offence would amount to more than three years’ imprisonment.��

“So like shoplifting, if it’s only like a piece of meat or something ... that’s not going to carry [that] penalty,” Bott said.��

“If the stolen property doesn’t exceed $500, the maximum term of imprisonment is three months, so if that’s the case, there is no power to exercise a citizen’s arrest at the supermarket.”��

Police have been approached for comment by the��Herald.��