Per WWSB channel 7 in Florida: “Charlotte County Sheriff's deputies arrested
a man who stole a television in a box from Wal-Mart and fled with it on his
bicycle. He was arrested when he crashed into the back of a detective’s
vehicle.
Arrested for Retail Theft and Resisting an Officer was
32-year-old Jonathan Ryan Fontaine of Port Charlotte.
According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Wal-Mart
security called CCSO at 3 p.m. Tuesday after a man stole the 32-inch TV, exited
the store, and drove off with it on his bicycle.
Two detectives responding to another incident spotted Fontaine with the TV on his bicycle at U.S. 41 and Midway Boulevard. One detective drove ahead of Fontaine and the other got out of his car and on foot tried to stop Fontaine. When Fontaine turned around to look at the detective chasing him, he was not paying attention, and slammed into the rear of the other detective’s vehicle.”
Two detectives responding to another incident spotted Fontaine with the TV on his bicycle at U.S. 41 and Midway Boulevard. One detective drove ahead of Fontaine and the other got out of his car and on foot tried to stop Fontaine. When Fontaine turned around to look at the detective chasing him, he was not paying attention, and slammed into the rear of the other detective’s vehicle.”
That’s why it’s a bad
idea to steal a TV that is so big it obstructs your vision as you drive it home
on your Huffy. Maybe a 27 inch TV, but
not a 32. That’s just stupid.
The story above is
regarding a Florida case. So I’m going
to ignore it. I don’t know Florida law.
Today we’re going to
talk about theft by unlawful taking charges in Kentucky. Louisville criminal defense lawyers always
like to use shortened nicknames for criminal charges (like POCS, pronounced “pocks,”
for Possession of Controlled Substance).
The shortened, cute little nickname for Theft By Unlawful Taking is
TBUT, pronounced “Tee-butt.”
The Kentucky TBUT
statute can be found, inconspicuously, in the “Theft and Related Charges”
section of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS).
Specifically, we’re going to be looking at KRS 514.030, Theft by
Unlawful Taking or Disposition, which states:
(1)
Except as otherwise provided in KRS 217.181 or 218A.1418, a person is guilty of
theft by unlawful taking or disposition when he unlawfully:
(a)
Takes or exercises control over movable property of another with intent to deprive
him thereof; or
(b)
Obtains immovable property of another or any interest therein with intent to benefit
himself or another not entitled thereto.
(2)
Theft by unlawful taking or disposition is a Class A misdemeanor unless the
value of the property is five hundred dollars ($500) or more, in which case it
is a Class D felony; or unless:
(a)
The property is a firearm (regardless of the value of the firearm), in which case
it is a Class D felony;
(b)
The property is anhydrous ammonia (regardless of the value of the ammonia), in
which case it is a Class D felony unless it is proven that the person violated this
section with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine in violation of KRS
218A.1432, in which case it is a Class B felony for the first offense and a Class
A felony for each subsequent offense; or
(c)
The value of the property is ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more, in which case
it is a Class C felony.
As you can tell, the
definition for TBUT is pretty simple.
Basically, it covers any time someone steals something. The complicated part of the statute is the
penalty section. The penalty for TBUT
depends not only on the value of the item(s) allegedly taken, but also the type
of item(s). The general rule is that
stealing something worth less than five hundred dollars is a Class A
misdemeanor. However, stealing a gun is always
a class D felony.
The punishment for stealing
a $200 gun is harsher than stealing $400 worth of electronics.
For those of you who
have jobs that don’t require you to learn weird things like how to make
methamphetamine, anhydrous ammonia is used for fertilizer. Some farmers will keep tanks of anhydrous
ammonia on their farms. The compound is
also used to make methamphetamine, so some manufacturers thereof have taken to
stealing it from the tanks that farmers keep.
This is a dangerous process that involves converting a propane tank for proper
fitting, and also involves the possibility of burning your fingers off
(anhydrous ammonia is stored in liquid form under pressure and has a boiling
point of -28F).
Stealing anhydrous
ammonia, in and of itself, is a Class D felony.
If they can prove that the person stealing it intended to make meth
(which is likely), the crime is a Class B felony (carrying a penalty of 10-20
years in prison, and a Class A felony (carrying a penalty of 20-life in prison)
for subsequent offenses.
Stealing anything worth
$10,000 or more is a Class C felony.
However, from a plain reading of the statute, I believe that if someone
stole a gun worth $10,000 or more, the Commonwealth would not be able to charge
the thief with a Class C felony.
Strictly read, subsection (2)(a) dictates that the theft of ANY firearm,
REGARDLESS OF VALUE, is a Class D felony.
Obviously the statute was meant to bump the theft of lesser valued
firearms UP a class, but I believe the statute could be used in a criminal
defendant’s favor for stealing ultra-high value antique firearms.
If you are charged with
Theft by Unlawful Taking or Shoplifting, and you do not know what the penalty
is for the offense, you should contact a Louisville theft or shoplifting
attorney today. Obviously, the law in
this area is a little complicated, but a good criminal defense attorney should
be able to give you an idea of what you are facing.
Call 502.618.4949 for a
free consultation with a Louisville theft or shoplifting attorney today. Theft charges in Kentucky are serious. You should have a lawyer on your side to
protect your constitutional rights.
Simms & Reed, PLLC.
Individual
Attention. Extraordinary Results.
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