The Difference between Burglary and Theft

Most of you are familiar with the terms burglary and theft. However, what most of you don’t know is the difference between the two. Generally, people understand that burglary is the worse of the two crimes. What they don’t understand is there is only one thing an officer needs to prove to in order to charge you with burglary and that is intent.

Per Arizona Statute 13-1802, the crime of theft is defined as the illegal act of taking or using another person's property without permission or consent. It is also considered a theft crime to accept or receive property that you know to be stolen. Theft crimes classifications can range from acts of stealing from a store to the more serious felony crime of taking money from a corporation. If you have been accused of committing a theft crime, it is important for you to consider hiring an Arizona criminal attorney experienced in defending theft charges.

As defined in Arizona Statute 13-1506, a person commits a third degree burglary by entering or remaining unlawfully in or on a nonresidential structure or in a fenced commercial or residential yard with the intent to commit any theft or any felony therein. Third degree burglary is a class 4 felony in Arizona.

Here is a scenario that will help you understand the main difference, (and the most common) between the two crimes explained above:

One night you are sitting at home watching TV and realized how much fun it would be to have an Xbox to play. So you get in your vehicle and drive to Target with the intent to steal an Xbox. This is burglary. On the other hand, if you happened to already be in Target and the urge to steal an Xbox suddenly came over you then this would be considered theft.

The intent to steal is the primary difference between the two crimes. This is often the officer’s first question he will ask in theft cases. You could be charged for burglary even if it was something as small as a bag of diapers.