Easton v. Hurita

*691TONGUE, J.

This is an action for damages for false imprisonment arising as a result of plaintiff’s arrest for a minor traffic offense. It presents the question whether a police officer who stops a person for a minor traffic offense can not only place that person under arrest, but also put him in jail, rather than give him a citation and then release him, when the maximum penalty for the infraction is a fine of $250.

More specifically, however, the question presented for decision is whether plaintiff’s complaint alleged sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action for false imprisonment.…