A capias ad respondendum shall issue in an action founded upon a tort only when the action is founded upon (a) an outrageous battery or a mayhem, (b) a claim of damages for the misconduct or neglect of a public officer or (c) a wilful or malicious act and the defendant is a nonresident or is about to remove from the state. In such a case the court shall hold the defendant to bail, in an amount which it thinks proper under the circumstances.
N.J.S. § 2A:15-41