Answer

The Law on Larceny and Theft

Susan was walking down the street. A mugger grabbed her purse and took off running. The incident scared Susan, and she began to cry. What crime did the mugger commit? Explain your response.

According to the description of the case, the mugger committed larceny or theft. Susan was unsuspecting that such an incident could occur. The mugger quickly moved without her noticing, grabbed her purse, and made away with it. The mugger did not harass her or use threatening words to make her submit the purse. Nonetheless, the mugger had no weapon to subdue the victim. Primarily, the mugger snatched Suzan’s purse without her authorization. The bag did not belong to the mugger. Thus, the act is considered criminal. Susan did not resist the theft of the purse. Thus, the mugger had easy time making away with it without applying force. However, if she resisted the attempt and the mugger used violence to make her release the bag, it would have been an offense of robbery with violence. 

No fear was involved in the crime, but Suzan was left crying after the incident. However, It is difficult to determine if she was crying because she was scared or for losing her bag. When she started crying, the mugger had run away from the scene. A similar case was presided by the San Francisco state court of appeal. A boy named J.M came from behind, snatched a woman’s phone at a bus stop, and made away with it in 2012. During the judgment of the case, the court considered the case as theft and not robbery. The judge argued that the boy did not use force to obtain the phone. The woman did not notice the boy coming from behind. Thus, the boy was charged with theft or larceny not robbery.