Sheesh, that'd be one heck of an hypersensitive overreaction.
I don't see how that can be considered overreacting when somebody is accusing you of theft to your face. I certainly wouldn't put myself in jail by punching someone.
Being that somebody was provoking/instigating the altercation by falsely accusing me of a crime, I don't see how I would be arrested if I simply broke somebody's nose. If anything, I would imagine the person I punched would get a few citations for his actions and verbal harrassment. I would also consider a civil suit against the person I punched. Afterall, you can't go around accusing somebody of something like theft. Now when stores falsely accuse somebody of theft, they usually get sued and settle out of court for a few hundred thousand or a couple of million. I could probably get at least five-ten grand in a suit. The person might be forced to sell their home and car to be able to pay me, or perhaps the judge would order a lein of a few hundred bucks on each of the person's paychecks until they have paid their debt.