§ 516 — Improper use of credit cards or debit cards; defense of lawful detention

§ 516. Improper use of credit cards or debit cards; defense of lawful\ndetention. In any action for false arrest, false imprisonment, unlawful\ndetention, defamation of character, assault, trespass, or invasion of\ncivil rights, brought by any person by reason of having been detained on\nor in the immediate vicinity of the premises of a seller, lender or\nissuer, for the purpose of investigation or questioning as to the\nownership, possession, validity or use of a credit card or debit card,\nit shall be a defense to such action that the person was detained in a\nreasonable manner and for not more than a reasonable time to permit such\ninvestigation or questioning by a peace officer, acting pursuant to his\nspecial duties, or a police officer, or by a person acting on behalf of\nor by such seller, lender or issuer, and that such officer, person,\nseller, lender or issuer had reasonable grounds to believe that the\nperson so detained was using or attempting to use a stolen or forged\ncredit card or debit card or was making or attempting to make unlawful\nuse of a credit card or debit card. As used in this section, "reasonable\ngrounds" shall include, but not be limited to, knowledge that the credit\ncard or debit card has been, or has been reported to be, lost, stolen,\nrevoked, cancelled, or forged and knowledge that the person had used or\nattempted to use the credit card or debit card to purchase or lease\nproperty or services or to obtain a cash advance, and a "reasonable\ntime" shall mean the time necessary to permit the person detained to\nmake a statement or to refuse to make a statement, and the time\nnecessary to examine employees and records of the seller, lender, issuer\nor holder relative to whether improper use was being made of the card.\n