“Yes. Next, did they have a right to impede him, detain him, ask him to stop, and even arrest him?”
Actually, no.
“O.C.G.A. 17-4-60 (2010)
17-4-60. Grounds for arrest
A private person may arrest an offender if the offense is committed in his presence or within his immediate knowledge. If the offense is a felony and the offender is escaping or attempting to escape, a private person may arrest him upon reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion.”
Arbery didn’t commit a felony and neither father or son had seen him do so nor did either have immediate knowledge that Arbery had committed a felony. At worst, Arbery committed a misdemeanor. In Georgia, burglary
is a felony while trespass is a misdemeanor.
Burglary does not require that something is stolen, only that there is an intent to steal. If Arbery entered that building with the intent to steal, that is burglary. And, as has been alleged, Arbery had been suspected of previous break-ins, perhaps were items were stolen.
Anyone can ask someone to stop. It is not illegal to do so.
Respectfully, you are wrong. A citizen arrest requires PROBABLE CAUSE that a felony was committed. It is irrelevant whether a felony was actually committed. For example, if a woman comes out of her house screaming “that man raped me,” and I go track him down, I did not see the rape, and if it later turns out that she lied, I still had probable cause to arrest because I had knowledge that a felony had been committed. In this case, the illegal entrance on the property, the rash of recent break ins referenced by the defendants and the neighbor as to this same house, and the decedent ‘s sprinting out of the house, and doing so right in front of the defendants, is probable cause under the common law, which is enshrined in the GA statute you reference.
Oh, and an additional point: There was no ARREST!! So all these posts about citizens arrests are irrelevant.