Assault/Theft

Assault and theft are two different categories of offenses.   Assault is a crime against the person.  Theft is a crime against property.

Assault involves either force, often resulting in bodily injury, or the threat of force.  Different types of assault include simple assault, aggravated assault, aggravated assault while armed, sexual assault, and stalking.

Theft is the wrongful taking of the property of another with intent to deprive.  Included under the general rubric of theft are such crimes as fraud, forgery, and shoplifting.

Assault and theft come together in the criminal offenses of robbery, carjacking, extortion, and blackmail.

Robbery is both an assault (a challenge to the person of the victim) and a wrong involving property (the taking of something of value from the person).  Carjacking is a robbery in which the stolen property is a car.

Extortion is similar to robbery in that both involve a threat and the wrongful taking of property.  In robbery, the threatened harm is immediate.  In extortion, the threatened harm is in the future.

If extortion is one step removed from robbery, blackmail is two steps removed.  If the threat in extortion is one of either physical or economic harm, the threat in blackmail is one of ruined reputation, disgrace, or embarrassment.

While burglary does not necessarily involve theft, it too is considered a crime against both the person (the rightful possessor of the property whose interests are being invaded) and property (the location of the trespass).