NY Penal Law § 155.25: Petit Larceny.

In New York criminal law, larceny is a legal term for theft or stealing. In general, there are two types of larceny. There is petit larceny and there is grand larceny. You would face a charge of petit larceny under New York Penal Code § 155.25 if you steal property. That said, petit larceny only applies if whatever property you are accused of stealing has a monetary value that is lower than $1,000. For anything of greater value than that, the charge would be grand larceny. Although you can commit petit larceny in several different ways, petit larceny is the charge most commonly associated with shoplifting.

For Example

Roger is in a clothing store in the mall, absentmindedly browsing at merchandise while talking on his cell phone. As he picks up a shirt while he is in the middle of a rather compelling conversation, he carries on chatting with the person on the phone and he saunters out of the store with the shirt still in his hand. Less than 30 seconds later he runs back into the store and immediately returns the shirt to the table he got it from. In this scenario, Roger did not commit petit larceny, because he did not intend to steal the shirt. Moreover, when he realized his mistake, he almost immediately returned the merchandise to the store.

Offenses that are Related

• Grand larceny in the first degree: New York Penal Code § 155.42
• Grand larceny in the second degree: New York Penal Code § 155.40
• Grand larceny in the third degree: New York Penal Code § 155.35
• Grand larceny in the fourth degree: New York Penal Code § 155.30