Also known as: hurtos · theft · larceny
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The crime of theft or larceny. It requires a trespassory taking and carrying away of tangible personal property belonging to another with the intent to deprive the owner permanently or for an unreasonable time.
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Hannah Hughes reaches into an open bin on a construction site and places five marked power tools belonging to Highland Farms into her zipped backpack. She then lifts the backpack and carries it thirty feet across the gravel lot before a supervisor stops her. The conduct satisfies the elements of hurto because Hannah obtained control over the property without consent and moved it as part of carrying it away with intent to keep it permanently.
Hunter Hughes grabs diagnostic devices from a hospital storage room and runs toward the exit while carrying them. A security guard confronts him in the corridor and Hunter threatens the guard with a syringe to escape. The threat during flight after the taking elevates the theft to robbery under the applicable definition.
Horizon Realty holds a negotiable instrument evidencing a mortgage debt after the original lender lost the document through theft. Horizon satisfies the requirements to enforce the instrument and commences foreclosure proceedings on the home. The lost instrument does not prevent enforcement because Horizon meets the statutory conditions for theft-related loss of the document.
Heidi Henderson removes several power tools from a communal bin and places them inside her closed backpack on the construction site. She then walks a short distance across the lot while carrying the backpack. The minimal movement satisfies the asportation element of hurto even though the tools never left the premises.
Harold Hunt removes an automobile from a dealer's lot without permission and drives it away. The value of the vehicle exceeds five hundred dollars. The offense constitutes a felony of the third degree because theft of a motor-propelled vehicle triggers the elevated grading regardless of the exact amount involved.
Hope Howard, a site supervisor, lawfully receives power tools belonging to Highland Farms for temporary use on a project. She later decides to keep the tools permanently and conceals them in her vehicle. The initial lawful possession followed by fraudulent conversion distinguishes this conduct from simple larceny and satisfies the elements of embezzlement.
Larceny requires a trespassory taking from someone with a superior right of possession at the moment of acquisition. Embezzlement instead requires that the defendant first acquire lawful possession and then convert the property while in that possession.
…of actual malice); Porter v. Guam Publications, Inc. , 475 F. 2d 744, 745 (CA9 1973) (article concerning citizen's arrest for theft of a cash box considered an event of general or public interest); Cervantes v. Time, Inc. , 464 F. 2d 986, 991 (CA8 1972) (article concerning mayor and alleged organized crime connections…