Kimberly Ann Cataldo v. State, 09-17-00047-CR

On July 31, 2016, Kyle Jones (a firefighter-paramedic) observed Kimberly Cataldo driving erratically on a busy road, nearly colliding with his vehicle and a marked student-driver car.
Jones described prolonged erratic control (crossing center stripe for ~75 yards), abrupt acceleration, and locked brakes.
Jones blocked the Cadillac, spoke to Cataldo, smelled alcohol on her, and observed glazed eyes and impaired orientation; Cataldo admitted having "a couple of glasses of wine."
Jones put the car in park, removed Cataldo’s purse (believing the electronic key was in it) to prevent her from driving off, and called police; he characterized his intervention as intending to prevent harm and equivocated about calling it a citizen’s arrest.
The arresting peace officer who ultimately took custody did not testify at the suppression hearing and was not identified in the record.
The trial court denied Cataldo’s motion to suppress (finding a lawful citizen’s arrest); Cataldo pleaded guilty and appealed. The appellate court affirmed.

Issue	Cataldo (Appellant)	State (Appellee)	Held
Whether Jones’s warrantless restraint/stop qualified as a lawful citizen’s arrest for an offense against the public peace (supporting subsequent arrest)	Argued that absence of the arresting officer’s testimony and identification shows lack of proof of probable cause; Jones’s intervention was only a temporary detention	Argued Jones personally observed reckless/likely-DWI driving, smelled alcohol, and took actions to prevent harm—constituting a lawful citizen’s arrest	Court held Jones made a lawful citizen’s arrest: his observations supported probable cause that Cataldo committed a misdemeanor against the public peace (threat of continuing harm)
Whether evidence should be suppressed because the arresting peace officer did not testify	Argued that without officer testimony there was no evidence the officer had probable cause to arrest; citizen detention is only temporary until officer arrests	Argued suppression unnecessary because Jones’s eyewitness observations alone provided probable cause for the citizen’s arrest, so officer testimony not required to validate the arrest	Court held suppression not required; because Jones’s actions constituted a lawful citizen’s arrest, it was unnecessary to determine whether any peace officer independently had probable cause

Miles v. State, 241 S.W.3d 28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (citizen may arrest for misdemeanor that threatens public peace; reckless driving while intoxicated can support citizen’s arrest)
Valtierra v. State, 310 S.W.3d 442 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010) (standard of review for suppression hearings; trial court credibility determinations entitled to deference)
Romo v. State, 577 S.W.2d 251 (Tex. Crim. App. 1979) (upheld citizen’s arrest where motorist drove erratically at high speed and smelled of alcohol)
McEathron v. State, 294 S.W.2d 822 (Tex. Crim. App. 1956) (upheld citizen’s arrest for DWI based on direct dangerous driving observations)
Pierce v. State, 32 S.W.3d 247 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000) (private persons may not make warrantless arrests for ordinary misdemeanor moving violations)