Village A burglary seems more like an assault
Posted by: Will Sommer in News, Vox Populi, tags: Burglary, Crime, DPS, MPD, Sexual Assault
Georgetown’s crime wave continues, this time with something a lot less fun than Los Banditos Flagrantes del Toro. In a public safety alert sent out last night, DPS describes a burglary that seems a lot more serious than some stolen goods (emphasis mine):
At 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 25, 2008, a student reported to DPS that at approximately 5:20 a.m. the same day, an unknown hispanic male entered her apartment through an unlocked and ajar door. The suspect took a blanket from a bedroom and put it on top of the complainant, who was sleeping on the couch. He then laid on top of her. The complainant screamed and the suspect immediately left the premises. DPS notified MPD and they responded to the scene. MPD has classified the crime as a burglary and is continuing to investigate.
I guess MPD are the experts, but it’s weird to classify this as a burglary when nothing was even taken and someone was practically smothered.
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It’s not weird at all. It’s how police departments all over the nation have been showing an decrease in crime: by swaying the stats. They’ve been doing that for years.
The homocide rate in the United States has fallen dramatically because medical advances mean that more people survive an attack. No death = no homocide.
I agree it certainly sounds like it could be an assault, but burglary does not actually imply theft — though most think it does. Burglary really is just unlawful entry — many times to then commit robbery or theft — but not necessarily.
Holy shit, you think Rawls did it? I thought he was gay!
The Rawls picture was more of a comment on juicing the stats. That said, William Rawls is a person of interest in this case.
Hm, Bailey, Merriam-Webster says burglary is about entering “to commit a felony (as theft)”. Also, entering a building to commit a crime. I guess the crime is covering someone with a blanket and jumping on them.
Merriam-Webster is great for a layman’s definition, but in legal terms, burglary is simply the act of breaking and entering in order to commit a crime – any crime.
burglary
n. the crime of breaking and entering into a structure for the purpose of committing a crime. No great force is needed (pushing open a door or slipping through an open window is sufficient) if the entry is unauthorized. Contrary to common belief, a burglary is not necessarily for theft. It can apply to any crime, such as assault or sexual harassment, whether the intended criminal act is committed or not. Originally under English common law burglary was limited to entry in residences at night, but it has been expanded to all criminal entries into any building, or even into a vehicle.
Though to be fair, I’d say it’s both a burglary and a battery.
[...] Crawling on the floor? When will creepy things stop happening at Georgetown? On the bright side, we continue to learn that “burglary” does not necessarily imply theft. [...]
[...] property is listed as stolen. We’ve wondered before at DPS’ choice to classify some crimes ‘burglaries,’ burglary being the [...]
[...] laid on top of her. The complainant screamed and the suspect immediately left the premises. Vox thought it odd that DPS characterized the incident as a [...]