Can you be arrested in GTA Online?

In GTA Online, while you cannot be formally arrested in the sense that would occur in single-player modes or real life, your character can face consequences for illegal actions. When a player commits crimes and gains a wanted level, police will pursue and attempt to neutralize their character using lethal force. Players don’t experience an arrest scenario where their character is handcuffed and taken to jail. Instead, if law enforcement kills the player's character or the character otherwise dies during the pursuit, they will respawn nearby at a local hospital or police station and lose a small amount of money as a penalty for their in-game death.