Claiming plaintiffs assaulted him, defendant filed a police report which led to plaintiffs’ arrest. However, the DA declined to file charges against plaintiffs and they were released without a criminal prosecution ever being commenced against them. Following Van Audenhove v. Perry (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 915, this decision holds that mere arrest without the filing of criminal charges is insufficient to satisfy the commencement of a prior proceeding element of malicious prosecution. The trial court did not err in denying plaintiffs leave to plead other claims that they had earlier pleaded but voluntarily dismissed, as they offered no excuse for the delayed presentation of those claims. Plaintiffs’ abuse of process claim was barred by the statute of limitations. It was based on different facts–namely, allegations in defendants’ civil suit for a harassment injunction and so did not relate back to the filing of the complaint in this action.