Robbery

This crime is regulated in articles 237 and following of our Penal Code.

The conduct consists of taking possession of a thing without the consent of the owner by means of the use of violence or intimidation on persons, or force on things.

As its name indicates, the use of violence or intimidation is used on the person with the objective of seizing the thing in question. It can also be psychological violence by causing fear in the victim that leads him to hand over the thing. Physical violence, on the other hand, can at the same time give rise to another autonomous crime, such as injury. This crime is punishable with a prison sentence of two to five years. Some of the aggravating circumstances are the commission of the crime in an inhabited house, building or premises open to the public, in which case the penalty is three years and six months to five years imprisonment; and the commission of the crime using weapons or other dangerous means.

On the other hand, force in things, refers to any of the following actions to achieve the seizure of the object:

• By climbing: in practice, this refers to entering the place by any means not intended for that purpose.
• Breaking the wall, ceiling or floor, breaking doors, or windows, to gain access to the place.
• Breaking cabinets, chests, or other closed furniture, including forcing their locks or discovering their keys to access their contents.
• Using false keys. Fake keys are lock picks, keys lost by the owner, or keys that have been stolen from the owner, including electronic cards or key fobs.
• Disabling alarm systems.

The prison sentence will be from one to three years of prison for these cases.

The penalty will be aggravated, being from two to five years of imprisonment, when, among other options, the following concur: the robbery of things of artistic or historical value; the robbery of things of basic necessity; the robbery of things destined to the provision of services of general interest. In these cases, the prison sentence will be from two to five years.

At Chabaneix Abogados Penalistas we are experts in this type of crimes.