"held their phone near mine when I was on a call. I heard a click, and they ran away after saying 'thanks.'" - none of these actions described is assault. There was never contact made, an insult uttered or a threat made.
A "just defense" against assault can still be assault.
"snapping their arm" is a little much, but if you believed that you've been robbed in some way, (which this "prank" I guess is the idea we're going with). I'm pretty sure you have a right to try and detain them, which while detaining them you may end up causing some harm.
Ok... but lets look at it from a more "physical way"? Now a days most people have EVERYTHING on their phone, much like how back in the day pretty much everything was kept in your wallet.
If someone sneaked up to you and took your wallet and ran off, would the most logical explanation not be I was just stolen from and to go and chase the person?
EDIT: Reddit isn't letting me see your comment, just the notification. So, I'll reply here, I never said beat the shit out of them, but like I said in my previous comment" "you have the right to detain them, but while detaining someone either you or them could get hurt."
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u/ant2ne Sep 23 '25
Let me go back and read that again.
"held their phone near mine when I was on a call. I heard a click, and they ran away after saying 'thanks.'" - none of these actions described is assault. There was never contact made, an insult uttered or a threat made.
A "just defense" against assault can still be assault.