press charges

verb

press charges

verb

1

To formally accuse a person of a crime, especially by an ordinary person.

I'm pressing charges against you for assaulting me.
Of course, I have no intention of pressing any charge!1942 June 16, Jerry Siegel, “The Case of the Crimeless Crimes”, in Action Comics, volume 1, number 51, page 10:

1 more example

"Still, it's not as though women don't commit acts of violence. She herself is a prime example, otherwise we wouldn't even be talking about this. I'm pretty sure you'd be within your right to press charges."2015 August 11, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 713 - I'm Done:

Synonyms: complain, accuse, file a complaint, file charges

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.