Is Theft a Requirement for Breaking and Entering

Individuals that break and enter are guilty of an inchoate offense. When committing that type of offense, perpetrators are committing a crime which leads to another crime. Individuals that break and enter often do so in preparation of committing other offenses. In many cases, that offense is theft of property. However, many individuals that break and enter do so without committing any theft of property.

Theft is not a requirement for a crime to qualify as breaking and entering. Perpetrators that break and enter may do so in order to commit crimes against property or against people. In any case, burglary is an inchoate offense, which often leads to the commission of various other crimes.

Individuals that break and enter may commit crimes against property, such as destruction of private property or arson. In that case, the desired act was not theft. Instead their intention was destruction of property. They may not have had this plan until they entered the structure. Perhaps they could find nothing worth stealing, so they burned the house down instead. Their secondary crime was still committed through breaking and entering.

Unfortunately, many perpetrators break and enter in order to commit crimes against people. In some cases, those crimes include sexual assault or simple assault. In that case, the perpetrator did not intend to commit theft, but instead intended bodily harm.

In addition, many people break and enter in order to steal a person's identity. In fact, this is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. In most cases, burglars can easily find all of the necessary paperwork in the victim’s home.

In order to be charged with the inchoate offense, perpetrators do not have to commit theft when they break and enter. The offense that results from breaking and entering will have a direct result over the type of charges a perpetrator will face. Theft is one of the less serious offenses generally found in concurrence with breaking and entering.