Bad Guy Semantics
Decatur Metro | December 17, 2008DM EXCLUSIVE!
Andisheh did a little leg work for us Decaturites…
I just got off the phone with Decatur Police Captain Hipple.
The duo responsible for the ruckus at Kaleidoscope and Sawicki’s on Saturday have not been arrested.
Hipple also made an important point that bears repeating – although Decatur Police are taking the incident very seriously and are working to catch the suspects, what happened Saturday was not a robbery.
The suspects are alleged to have grabbed a cash box and accessed restricted areas of the shops. That’s theft, and possibly burglary (for going into a restricted area), he says, but not robbery.
Good thing I termed them “theives” in the previous post! Wouldn’t want to upset any thugs!
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So we are to take it then that “robbery” involves direct interaction with the victim, such as using a weapon or threats to obtain the stolen goods, versus “theft,” taking property without the victim’s knowledge?
This might be a dumb question, but was the cash still in the cash box when the thieves left it behind? Also, how did they get into the safe in the first place? Was it open?
lumpintheroad, your statements are correct. Robbery is a crime against person, theft is a crime against property. Burglary is a crime against property that involved forced entry.
The terms are defined in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.). You can find the whole thing here: http://www.lexis-nexis.com/hottopics/gacode/
O.C.G.A § 16-7-1. Burglary
(a) A person commits the offense of burglary when, without authority and with the intent to commit a felony or theft therein, he enters or remains within the dwelling house of another or any building, vehicle, railroad car, watercraft, or other such structure designed for use as the dwelling of another or enters or remains within any other building, railroad car, aircraft, or any room or any part thereof.
O.C.G.A. § 16-8-40. Robbery
(a) A person commits the offense of robbery when, with intent to commit theft, he takes property of another from the person or the immediate presence of another:
(1) By use of force;
(2) By intimidation, by the use of threat or coercion, or by placing such person in fear of immediate serious bodily injury to himself or to another; or
(3) By sudden snatching.
O.C.G.A§ 16-8-2. Theft by taking
A person commits the offense of theft by taking when he unlawfully takes or, being in lawful possession thereof, unlawfully appropriates any property of another with the intention of depriving him of the property, regardless of the manner in which the property is taken or appropriated.
Thanks for your research, Brady.
Thanks Andisheh–did you learn anything about the Fellini’s robbers or the Coventry burglars?
Have the police ever captured ANY of these thieves/felons: Fellini’s robbery, Kaleidescope about a year ago, the man who was robbed jogging near Ice House lofts, the man robbed near J. Christophers…ANY OF THESE?
I didn’t ask about any other incidents. If I have a sec, I’ll call back.
The Blue Jean Bandits, who robbed Kaleidescope earlier this year, were arrested shortly thereafter, by Atlanta police. But it was Decatur PD that got on their tail and chased them down DeKalb Ave…prior to this incident I don’t think any police had even come close to catching them. I’m assuming that DPD’s quick response helped lead to the capture (along with a security cam video of the bandits from a Buckhead robbery).
Also, they caught a group of teens that were stealing TVs in Oakhurst earlier this year.
YES! There is good news!
Tarnation wrote: “the man who was robbed jogging near Ice House lofts,”
I just spoke with Decatur PD Investigator Ross.
She said a) two arrests were made shortly before Christmas and the case is considered solved b) the incident was not a robbery. It was an assault. Some kids were harassing a jogger, which led to a verbal confrontation that became physical.
Thank you, Decatur PD.
Thanks for following up on this for us Andisheh. Glad to hear DPD “closed” that particular case.
Just more proof that we shouldn’t always assume that just because we haven’t heard anything that nothing has been “solved” or “closed” by our police force.
Its also a good lesson for me. If I’m going to post all kinds of criminal activity in town, I should follow up with the police in future weeks. Otherwise folks begin to get the wrong impression (i.e. all bad, no good)