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Here’s the scenario: you’ve had one too many drinks at a friend’s birthday bash. And instead of driving home and possibly catching a DUI charge, you decide to sleep it off in the car until you’ve sobered up enough.
Seems like a sensible decision, right? Turns out, you can still get arrested for what you just did. And apparently, many other things that seem ‘harmless’ and mundane can actually get you in trouble with the law.
This was a topic of discussion in a recent Reddit thread when someone asked, “What feels legal but is actually illegal and will possibly get you arrested?” If you didn’t know, now you know.
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#4
Setting booby-traps with the intent of hurting people who are breaking the law.
The number of redditors who think it's fine because they brought it on themselves by breaking the law is too high. At least in the USA, they are often violating state law. But even if not, they are almost guaranteed to make the trap-setter liable for injury/harm caused.
And, yes, that can include putting capsaicin in copious amounts in your lunch with the expectation that someone will steal it. Causing someone pain is 'harm' and you can be held liable unless you're happy to eat the amount of spice you put in the food to prove it's not a booby trap, you are just Jamaican.
#6
Threatening someone “as a joke.”
People think if they say “lol” or “I didn’t mean it,” it magically stops being serious. But if the threat is specific enough, believable enough, or causes someone to reasonably fear harm, the law may not care that you were “just mad” or “just trolling.”
#8
Drinking in public. You can get pretty used to it in certain places/scenarios when it's a big deal in other places.
#10
Seed saving and planting of patented seeds. Farmers are forced to buy from company every year.
#13
Paying someone else's parking meter.
*Deposit of coins by unauthorized persons.* No person, other than the owner or operator of a vehicle, shall deposit any coin in any parking meter without the knowledge or consent of such owner or operator of the vehicle using the parking space immediately adjacent to such parking meter.
#15
Finders keepers has another name: theft of mislaid property. I browse recent criminal cases sometimes and see it fairly frequently.
#16
Being in possession of an Eagle feather is illegal unless you are exempt like Native Americans; even then they have to apply to receive it, it can’t just be taken from the ground out in the wild.
#17
I live in the Netherlands and in some municipalities its forbidden to draw with chalk on the sidewalk.
#18
We used to leave things in mailboxes. Like, the neighbor's husband passed, so mom left a card in her mailbox; or a small gift to cheer up a friend, things like that.
Yep - federal crime. The USPS apparently literally owns the inside of mailboxes. If it isn't postage paid / handled by USPS, it's illegal to be placed in a mailbox.
#19
Having all my window curtains wide open while bare in my own home.
Takes one passerby to call me in and I get it for indecent exposure.
Never actually happened to me but *has* happened to others.
#22
Picking fruits or vegetables that are right near the sidewalk. It's not urban foraging; it's theft.
While it is unlikely that you will be arrested if you are picking wood sorrel from the sidewalk cracks, if it's not your land, it's not yours. And that "abandoned" apple tree in the side yard of an unoccupied house still belongs to someone.
#23
Picking wildflowers on the side of the road (at least in Texas). Those flowers don't belong to you. They don't even belong to mother nature. FYI. The State of Texas does spread wildflower seeds along state highways.
#25
Parliaments famous Salmon Act of 1986 states that it's illegal to hold salmon under suspicious circumstances Section 32 of the Salmon Act 1986 stipulates that it is an offence to handle salmon under suspicious circumstances.
#27
You had one guy who had a shop and he had a chair in front of his shop where he sat on. That was not legal in the Netherlands because he did not had a license for a terrace.
#28
Jay walking. Illegal just about everywhere (in the US), and can definitely get you arrested if cops are looking to pick you up and waiting for an excuse.
#29
Having a knife bigger than 3" in your pocket. But I guess blade size depends on where you're at.
#30
Downloading copyrighted movies, shows, or software for free. A lot of people treat it like it's normal, but it's still illegal in many places.
#31
Using any chemical product in a way “inconsistent with its labeling” is technically a federal offense in the USA.
My other pick would be tracking down someone who stole your stuff and stealing it back.
#33
Splitting a large transaction into smaller ones to avoid reporting requirements. It's a serious crime called structuring.
#34
**Hanging things from your rearview mirror.**
In a lot of states, having an air freshener, graduation tassel, or fuzzy dice hanging there is technically an 'obstruction of vision' and a perfectly legal reason for a cop to pull you over.
#37
Not exiting your vehicle when instructed by law enforcement. Penn. v Mimms
Right or wrong, that is the current precedent. Law enforcement can require you to leave your vehicle at anytime.
#38
Won't get you arrested, but will get you ticketed....blocking your own driveway with your car.
#39
In my city, it is against city ordinance for a food place to have a salt shaker (common table salt) already on the table, unless the custommer expressly requested it.
#42
Painting your side of a fence between your property and your neighbour's if it's their fence.
#44
Driving with a blood-alcohol-content **below** the so-called "legal limit" can still be illegal.
If you have any intoxicant in your system, even alcohol, and the police can show you are acting like you're intoxicated, you will be convicted of DUI/OWI/DWI.
#46
Flashing your high beams to warn other drivers that a cop is hiding ahead. Depending on the state, police will pull you over and ticket you for obstructing an investigation.
#48
Trying to leave the country without a mans permission if a woman. Singing or reading aloud is illegal if a woman in Afghanistan.
#49
Assuming that you have the ability to make any and all decisions regarding your medical care if you are a woman in 2026.
#50
A Danish woman was arrested in New York for leaving a kid in a pram outside a cafe. That is perfectly normal in Denmark, but apparently not in USA.
#53
Keeping prescription meds in a container that’s not the original. Like you can’t put one or two in a little pill keeper on your keychain because it’s not in the original bottle. I get the reasoning, but it’s also dumb.
#57
Trying to get your consigned Legos back from Bricks and Minifigs, apparently.
Roll0115:
It is a deep rabbit hole. Old man took his collection of rare Star Wars Legos to a Bricks & Minifig store to sell on consignment. Its estimated the collection is worth $200,000. Ownership changed hands, new franchise owners won't honor the consignment agreement, but they also won't give the Legos back. I am pretty sure they have sold part of the collection and kept the money. The local cops arent doing anything about the theft, but other police departments are harassing the YouTuber (Reckless Ben) that is trying to help get the Legos back. The drama spans multiple states at this point.
#58
Having an unpaid speeding ticket from long, long ago.
Around 2005, when old records were being digitized, there was a rash of people getting notices in the mail (at best) or license suspensions (at worst) because of something that happened 20 years before. Probably the difference was if you still lived at the old address and were able to receive a notice mailed to it. If you didn't, you'd first find out about it when you got pulled over for something else.
Hopefully these have mostly cleared out by now, but if you haven't been pulled over in 20 years and drove regularly before then there might be a surprise waiting for you next time you are.
Data1001 5 hours ago
From what I have read, this comes with a caveat. There are different statutes of limitation for parking tickets in different states (often up to 6 years), so after that time, they can no longer sue you to collect the fees. However, they can deny you registration on new vehicles, perhaps even bar you from renewing a license, and they can also report you to credit bureaus. So, while it's not a good idea for several reasons, having unpaid tickets from "20 years" ago is probably not going to get you a night in jail, unless cops are being particularly aggressive about it, and in that case you'd likely have a good case against them if you got a decent lawyer on your side.
#60
Leaving a party after having too many drinks and deciding to sleep it off in your car for the night instead of taking the risk of driving home drunk.
Since sleeping it off in your car can get you busted for drunk driving in a lot of places, some folks roll the dice and try to make it home so they don't get arrested for drunk driving while sleeping in their car.
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