February of this year I was standing about 50 feet inside a grocery store when I saw two older teenagers begin to run out of the store carrying boxes of merchandise they were in the process of stealing.
The first teenager had already run past me carrying his boxes, but the second teenager was still coming my way with his arms full of boxes. About 25 feet before he reach me, he ran into a woman who had her two small children inside the grocery cart, almost knocking her cart over.
As he continued towards me, he was attempting to squeeze through a three-foot opening between me and a grocery store display of fruit.
Rather than to allow this thief to abscond with his items, I gave him a shoulder check causing him to fall into the fruit display and tumble to the floor.
I immediately went to his backside and placed him into a carotid as I truly did not want to strike this teenager. I opted not to choke this kid out and reversed the carotid hold. The teen by this time stood up and faced me. He was not trying to kick or punch, but you never ever allow a person that close to you to stand face to face with their hands and legs having the ability to punch you or kick you in the groin.
I used a controlled osotogari to take the teen to the ground and hold him until being told to release him as the store, per their policy, will not detain nor prosecute people for shoplifting.
One thing I noticed was that I really had not missed a step from when I had to physically take down and restrain a suspect from my days in law enforcement.
I would however caution those who feel compelled to intervene in similar situations. In the recent and distant past, there have been times when the suspects are armed and use their firearms to threaten or shoot those who attempt to stop them. If you are NOT prepared for that to occur, I would caution you to NOT intervene. Besides, if the store will not detain and the judicial authorities will not prosecute, you will probably be out there on your own, criminally and civilly!