McCoy Law Firm | Burglary & Theft or Larceny

Burglary & Theft or Larceny

Burglary in the first degree is defined by the Oklahoma Statutes as follows:

Every person who breaks into and enters the dwelling house of another, in which there is at the time some human being, with intent to commit some crime therein, either:

By forcibly bursting or breaking the wall, or an outer door, window, or shutter of a window of such house or the lock or bolts of such door, or the fastening of such window or shutter; or

By breaking in any other manner, being armed with a dangerous weapon or being assisted or aided by one or more confederates then actually present; or

By unlocking an outer door by means of false keys or by picking the lock thereof, or by lifting a latch or opening a window, is guilty of burglary in the first degree.

Oklahoma Larceny Defined

Larceny is the taking of personal property accomplished by fraud or stealth, and with intent to deprive another thereof.

Furthermore, one who finds lost property under circumstances which gives him or her knowledge or means to inquire in to the identity of the true owner may also be charged with larceny if he or she keeps the property without first making a good faith effort to find the true owner and restore possession.

Consequently, larceny charges in Oklahoma are used by the prosecution as a catch-all provision to encompass those instances of theft where force or threat of violence is not used. Due to the broad definition, many individuals in Oklahoma can easily find themselves on the wrong end of a larceny case.

Theft

Theft in Oklahoma was not much different than larceny, which is defined as “the taking of personal property accomplished by fraud or stealth, and with intent to deprive another thereof.” As such, theft is not necessarily a violent crime; a victim may be completely oblivious of the theft until it is too late. Moreover, it is increasingly common that a thief not even be present when the theft occurs. However, traditional Oklahoma theft laws focus on those instances when an individual actively “takes” tangible property from another.