Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-06-21
Arrests With
out Warrant

Ahr 1Aib0tAE ID III ASttAPt VA cEsEfdl
communications from subscribers
commenting on the reckless way In
which prohibition officials stop auto
mobile parties who are pursuing their
proper business on the suspicion that
they may be bootleggers, without any
proof of the fact, and without war
rant. One such case occurred in Cas-
cade county recently. Officers of the
prohibition force passed a car driven
by a gentleman whose wife was in the
car, and suddenly turned the official
car broadside across the road so that
the gentleman had only a choice Of
smashing into the official car or GO
ing into the ditch at the risk of over
turning the car. He chose the latter
and fortunately he and his wife es-
capped any damage. All the apology
they got was the exhibition Of a pro-
hibition official badge, and the curt
statement that they had been mistak-
en- for b~ootleggers, after a search re-
vealed no liquor in the car. In Gala
tin county the other day two automo-
biles containing young ladies and their
escorts who had been attending a
dance were fired on by a party Of of
ficers when they did not obey the
command to stop. One of the drivers
had recently been held up by automo-
bile bandits, and when late at night
men with guns sprang out from the
side of the road and ordered him to
stop he thought his experience was
being repeated so he stepped on the
gas and the other automobile party
followed his example. A volley of
bullets pursued the fleeing pleasure
party, and two bullets went through
each car. One of the four bullets
just missed the head of one of the
young ladies'. The officers admitted
the facts, and in defense urged that
they had a tip that some rum SNUG
glers would pass on that road, and
they thought the pleasure parties
were the bootleggers. Commenting
the Gallatin county incident, of
our correspondents writes:
Fortunately no lives were lost by
the outrageous conduct or the part of
the public officers of Gallatin county,
but had there been it is more than
likely that no action would be taken
to punish the criminals. 3
"They were county officers and the
other county officers, who should act,
would find some excuse or reason for
not prosecuting, or if they did start
it would not be very vigorously
prosecuted; they are all politicians.
"Inasmuch as such occurrences are
becoming quite common and no action
and none likely, it would APP
pear, at least to the writer, that the
newspapers of the state should take
up these matters and inform the peo-
pie of their rights.
"Our present prohibitory law occu-
pies about 80 pages Of our criminal
code and was enacted to conform to
the volstead act, and while the law is
rabid there is no provision which
officers to make arrests
a warrant, except section
l11O6 which provides that where a vi
Of the law occurs in the pres
snce of an officer he may make the
without a warrant. The viola
ton must occur in the presence Of the
1t would hardly seem that
the driving of an automobile along a
highway is a violation of the I.
law" :
There is, however, a general provis- :
in our criminal code providing for :
by an officer of the law, as our :
correspondent points out. Section .
.1753 of our criminal code provides
hat an officer may make an arrest, :
With or without a warrant, in the fol- :
cases: :
/. For a public offense committed :
n his presence. =
2. When a person arrested has
a felony, although not in
is presence. :.
3. When a felony has in fact been !
ommitted, and he has reasonable :
ause for believing the person arrested !
/, hava .orpnoiftod II. 3
4. On a charge made, upon a rea-
cause of the commission of !,
felony by the party arrested. IL
5. At night, when there is a rea- :
enable cause to believe that he has
,mmitted a felony