THEFT

in law, crime of taking another person's property without his consent. It is a general term covering the specific crimes of larceny, robbery, and burglary. Larceny is the trespassory taking and carrying away of personal goods from the possession of another with intent to steal. There must be a trespassory taking; that is, the goods must be taken from the possession of another without his consent. And the goods must not only be taken but also carried away. The latter requirement is highly formalistic and is satisfied by any movement of the entire object, however slight. Finally, there must be an intent to steal, which is ordinarily defined as an intent to deprive the owner permanently of his property. An unauthorized borrowing of another's property is not larceny if there is an intent to return the property. Moreover, one who takes goods erroneously believing them to be his own does not commit a criminal offense. Robbery is an aggravated form of larceny involving violence or the threat of violence directed against the victim in his presence. The penalty for robbery is always more severe than that for larceny. Burglary is defined as the breaking and entering of the premises of another with an intent to commit a felony within. Breaking consists not only in the breaking of some external portion of the building but also in the opening of a closed door or window. Any entry, however slight, is sufficient, including thrusting the hand or even an instrument into the building. Only the intent to commit a felony, not its actual consummation, is required. Possession of burglary tools with intent to commit burglary is a common statutory offense. Housebreaking originally covered daytime entries, whereas burglary was limited to nighttime thefts; but burglary has been extended to cover all hours of the day and to cover buildings other than houses, as well as automobiles. Although many legal systems continue to separate thefts into categories, some jurisdictions, especially in the United States, have begun to consolidate them under the general title of theft, leaving for the court the chore of fitting an offense into the proper category. Two types of offense usually distinguished from theft are embezzlement and fraud. In the former, the offender carries away goods the possession of which had been legally entrusted to him; in the latter, the possession of goods is obtained with the consent of the victim through misrepresentation.