Justification; use of physical force to prevent or terminate larceny or criminal mischief · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 35.25 Justification; use of physical force to prevent or terminate
larceny or criminal mischief.
A person may use physical force, other than deadly physical force, upon another person when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to prevent or terminate what he or she reasonably believes to be the commission or attempted commission by such other person of larceny or of criminal mischief with respect to property other than premises.
A person may use reasonably necessary nondeadly physical force to prevent or stop what the person reasonably believes is larceny or criminal mischief involving property other than premises. ★ Deadly force is not authorized by this section.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.