If you’ve been charged with robbery in Chicago, Skokie or Rolling Meadows, you may need tough legal representation from an aggressive Illinois criminal defense attorney – and here’s why.
Robbery Charges in Illinois
Robbery is the crime of taking property from someone else by force. There are three types: straight (or strong-arm) robbery, aggravated robbery, and armed robbery.
Robbery is different from theft, which occurs when you obtain or exert unauthorized control over someone else’s property, or deceive the owner or threaten the owner to get it.
Straight, Plain or Strong-Arm Robbery
Straight robbery, which is sometimes called plain robbery or strong-arm robbery, occurs when you force someone to give you his or her property. If you mug someone to steal a wallet or a purse, you have committed straight robbery.
Straight robbery is a Class 2 felony, unless the victim is 60 years of age or older; then it becomes a Class 1 felony. It’s also a Class 1 felony if it happens in a daycare center, a childcare facility, a place of worship or a school.
Aggravated Robbery
Aggravated robbery is larceny (stealing) that you commit by using a weapon or the threat of a weapon in combination with the threat of force, actual force or intimidation. A weapon involved in aggravated robbery can be anything – a knife, a crowbar, or anything else. The weapon doesn’t even have to be real; the law treats a fake weapon as if it’s real if the victim believes it’s real and that it will harm them if they don’t listen to the person wielding it. You can also be convicted of aggravated robbery if you drug someone without their consent in order to take something they own.
Aggravated robbery is a Class 1 felony in Illinois.
Armed Robbery
Armed robbery involves you having a firearm on or near your person when you commit the crime, a discharge of a firearm when you commit the crime, or a discharge of a firearm that causes great bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement, or death to another person.
Armed robbery is a Class X felony in Illinois.
Do You Need to Talk to a Robbery Defense Lawyer in Chicago?
If you’ve been accused of robbery – any type, including straight, aggravated or armed robbery – you may want to talk to an attorney as soon as possible.
Call us right away at 847-920-4540 so we can help. We’ll give you a free robbery case review and start planning the defense that gets you the best possible outcome.
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