An off-duty officer conducted a citizen's arrest on Tuesday.

MERIDIAN, Idaho — As the weather warms up, you might have noticed more sales people going door to door.

On Tuesday, police in Meridian took a man to jail for soliciting without a license.

So how often do arrests like this happen? And what can you do if you ever encounter a solicitor without a license?

“It’s not real often.” Meridian Police Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea said. “But it happens a handful of times a year, usually around this time of the year."

Tuesday’s incident was a citizen’s arrest conducted by an off-duty officer.

According to Meridian Police, the solicitor, who was selling pest control, came to the off-duty officer’s door and when the off-duty officer asked the solicitor to show his license to sell, he claimed he had one, but didn’t have it on hand.

In Boise, Meridian, and Nampa, it is a requirement for solicitors to have a city-issued license or permit.

After a somewhat heated exchange between the off-duty officer and the solicitor, the solicitor then continued to try and sell his product to other neighbors and that's when the off-duty officer called police and conducted a citizen’s arrest, according to Meridian Police.

So how often do these arrests happen?

“As far as the citizen’s arrest on a solicitor not very often,” Basterrechea said. “We do arrest solicitors periodically in the city if they're not licensed, usually it's because they're being pushy to people and causing problems.”

Meridian Police will also arrest solicitors if they’ve been warned before and are aware of the rules but chose to ignore them and continue to solicit.



Some tips from Meridian Police:

Always make sure the solicitor has a city-issued license/permit, if they don’t contact police.

If you don't want anyone coming to your door, invest in a "no soliciting" sign.

If you are interested in a product, take down the information and do some research yourself.

Permits are not required for religious groups or kids selling items for school.