What is the liability for attempting to steal a car?

An attempt to steal a car or an attempt on it is a crime that was not completed, i.e., the criminal, due to circumstances beyond his control or of his own free will, was unable to complete the intended act.

There is liability for attempted theft and intent to steal a car.

How are attempted car thefts classified?

Many people mistakenly think that an attempt and the fact of its commission are different crimes, but this is a completely wrong opinion. The main point that the court considers is the original motive.

Eg:

1. Citizen Ivanov saw an open car near the store and decided to take advantage of the moment and steal the vehicle. There were no keys, so Ivanov started the car by short-circuiting the wiring. At this time, the owner of the vehicle appeared and detained the criminal.
2. Citizen Igorev opened the victim’s car, and he found duplicate keys in the glove compartment. After the car was started, the thief fled the crime scene. Igorev was stopped at the traffic police post 3 days later.

When considering these examples, it will be established that there was a criminal intent in both cases (without the purpose of theft), and Article 166, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be used to impose punishment. For the law, it doesn’t matter how far or how the vehicle was moved; it could be several meters or half a country, or even if the car was stolen not under its own power, but using a forklift.

Is there any protection against car theft?

There are several ways to protect your car from theft:

• install an electronic and/or mechanical anti-theft system on the vehicle;
• strengthen the structural elements of the vehicle, for example, apply an armored film to the glass, which will help withstand impacts from a heavy object;
• park in guarded parking lots, in courtyards in a well-lit area and within visibility from the premises, near CCTV cameras;
• make the car noticeable, for example, apply airbrushing to it.

It also makes sense to install a so-called tracker or beacon on the car. This device will not protect your car from theft, but if attackers do not detect the beacon manually or with scanners, it will greatly facilitate the search for a stolen car. In addition, modern trackers and beacons have their own software, thanks to which you can track the movement of a vehicle in real time and even remotely block the engine.

Finally, you can insure your car against theft by taking out a CASCO policy. Of course, this will not help prevent car theft, but the owner of the car will protect himself financially and will receive compensation for damages under CASCO. It should be borne in mind that some insurance companies issue policies only on the condition that security systems are installed on the vehicle. If there is no such system, the insurer may refuse to issue CASCO insurance with the risk of theft or significantly increase the cost of the policy.

What is the punishment?

According to Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the punishment for unlawful taking of a vehicle is as follows:

1. Wrongful seizure of a car or other means of transport without the purpose of theft is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one hundred twenty thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year; or restriction of freedom for up to three years; or forced labor for up to five years; or arrest for up to six months; or imprisonment for a term of up to five years.
2. The same act committed:
   by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;
3. with the use of violence not dangerous to life or health, or with the threat of using such violence, is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to eighteen months; or forced labor for up to five years; or imprisonment for a term of up to seven years.
4. Acts provided for in parts one or two of this article, committed by an organized group or causing particularly large damage, are punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years.
5. Acts provided for in parts one, two or three of this article, committed with the use of violence dangerous to life or health, or with the threat of such violence, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to twelve years.

If we consider the classification of the crime using the above examples, then both will be classified under Part 1 of Art. 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Even despite the fact that, it would seem, in the first case the car was never stolen, and in the second it was found only after 3 days. Yes, here it is worth agreeing that the punishments will differ in severity, and in the first example, citizen Ivanov will receive a less severe punishment than his “colleague”.

How to behave if an attempt is made in front of your eyes?

So, you see criminals trying to break into your car. What to do?

1. Assess the situation . If there are several criminals and you are alone, do not try to stop them yourself. This may be dangerous to your life and health. This may deter thieves, but you don't always have to take the risk.

2. 
   Call the police immediately! Explain the situation and wait for law enforcement to arrive.

3. Record a video of the theft or actively take photographs. If there are other witnesses to the incident, ask them to do so as well. Write down their phone numbers.
4. If you have the opportunity, try to stop the kidnappers . Lock the doors, turn off the lights (in the garage, for example). Such force majeure will confuse criminals.
5. Do not shoot under any circumstances, even with your own weapon. Injuring or killing the kidnappers is considered an excess of necessary self-defense. You can get a real prison sentence for this, and also accidentally take the life of another person.
6. Try to remember the kidnappers . Pay attention to details: clothing, tattoos, scars, accent or voice intonation. This may help the investigation.

If your car is stolen, immediately go to the police. Write a statement, talk to employees. Investigating a theft without delay is much more effective. What else can you do?

• Print out car theft notices and post them around the area.
• Activate the car search system, if available.
• Contact your insurance company within three business days of the theft. Prepare all documents for the car, as well as copies of the accepted statement to the police.

What is not theft

According to the legislator’s clarification, the following situations cannot be hijacked and, accordingly, do not qualify:

1. If the vehicle was used without the authorized permission of the owner by his immediate family.

For example, quite often there are situations when one of the spouses decides to leave in a car without warning the other, the husband (or wife) sees that the car is missing and reports the theft to the police. Or a similar situation, but with a targeted statement of a crime, indicating the involvement of a spouse. This happens especially often in families that are on the verge of divorce and want to annoy each other.

1. Use of a company vehicle for personal purposes. Currently, the vast majority of official vehicles are equipped with tracking systems, this applies to taxis, truck drivers, forklifts, combine harvesters, etc.

And sometimes there are moments when the driver needs to deviate from the established route, and the dispatcher sees this and reports it to the police, since he cannot contact the driver for a long time (there is simply no network). There are many similar cases, which is why when calling the police, one of the first questions will be whether close relatives could have used the vehicle.

Car Theft POV: Prison Interview

– You told me about the methods of the Caucasians, but what are the methods of your team?

– We, unlike Caucasians, are “intellectuals.” We have a whole technical complex for opening and stealing, the cost of which is several thousand euros. But all these “bells and whistles” have long since paid for themselves.

The scheme is as follows. If the car is expensive, we track it for several days. We hit the wheels so that the alarm goes off. Let's see how the owners react. By the way, you can figure out what brand the “signal” of the “terpila” is by looking at the antenna. In the morning, around 4-5 o’clock, a couple of our crews arrive. At this time, everyone is usually asleep, even teenagers who wander late and other drunks.

We open the car using a code grabber. The signal was found and counted in advance. Next is a matter of technology. If there is a satellite system, then we jam it. Mechanical locks of the automatic transmission, hood and other things are also neutralized simply. Everything about everything – no more than 15 minutes. Usually, most victims install sophisticated anti-theft devices directly in the showroom of the official dealer of their favorite and expensive car. And they don’t worry about installing them and always put them in the same places, without worrying about secrecy.

We know all these places. When the car is started, it, accompanied by two of our crews, goes to the septic tank - a quiet courtyard area not far from the place of theft. One of the escort cars is driving ahead, and if there is a traffic police patrol in front, then the driver of this car is demonstratively violating the traffic rules right in front of the traffic police officers. His main task is to stop him, and not the stolen car. They slow him down, and the stolen car with the second escort car goes to the septic tank.

– What if, after all, traffic police officers stop a stolen car?

“Under no circumstances will a stolen car stop, because its entire front panel has been torn apart. It’s immediately clear that it “smells fried” here. If a chase starts, we don’t need militants with shootouts. A stolen car turns off its headlights, turns into courtyards and gets lost there. We leave this car in the yards and forget about it. If suddenly an unforeseen situation occurs, then the person driving a stolen car always has a large amount of cash with him in case of such an event - about 2 million rubles. Usually such a conversation takes place: a law enforcement officer is first offered one million, then (if he refuses) - two.

– Well, not all of them are corrupt. What if you come across an honest employee?

“Here you just have to say: “You won’t take it, your superiors will take it, and they’ll release me tomorrow.” And they will call you an honest fool until you retire!” In the end they take everything.

Differences from theft

It should be understood that theft and theft are separated by law into two different crimes, despite the fact that for many they are essentially the same act. The main difference is the motive for committing a crime; for theft, the main motive is obtaining material benefit or subsequent appropriation into property, and the theft is always carried out secretly and without the use of violence. And the theft may be accompanied by these aggravating circumstances, which, accordingly, will entail the most serious consequences.

Responsibility for attempted car theft

Vehicle theft is a fairly common type of crime. For victims of such atrocities, the further course of action is intuitive: write a statement to the police and hope that the vehicle will be returned safe and sound.

What to do if you try to steal a car? In this situation, the car remains with the owner, so not all victims attach importance to such incidents. Let us immediately note that such actions of attackers also fall under the scope of the Criminal Code and imply real terms of imprisonment. Let's consider the legal aspects of attempts to steal vehicles.

What to do if a vehicle is stolen along with documents

Most drivers keep vehicle documents (title, insurance policy, technical passport) in the glove compartment, and accordingly, if the car is stolen, then along with all the documents. What to do in this situation. The main steps are no different from those described above, the only difference will be that in your application you must indicate which documents were in the vehicle. If there were documents in the stolen vehicle, this could seriously harm the hijacker himself. The fact is that if the investigation proves that the criminal knew about the presence of documents in the car and still did what he had planned, then the provisions of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – “theft”. The punishment will depend on the totality of the damage caused and suffered by the victim.

For what purpose did the legislator separate theft from auto theft, and how does it work in reality?

Do you want to know why the discovery of a stranger in a car will automatically constitute a crime for him under Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation , that is, theft of a vehicle, and why the law contains two articles with different names, punishing essentially the same crime related to theft TS? Let's understand the terminology using the example of a complaint received by the Supreme Court.

What is called a “living” example of a complaint considered in the Supreme Court, which once again showed the difference between theft and theft of a car, because even a banal entry into a vehicle that does not belong to a citizen (even if there was no attempt to start the car) from a legal point of view is already will be considered as theft. At the same time, the difference between the terms “theft” ( Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ) and “theft” ( Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ) is extremely important for the qualification of crimes, because they are committed for different reasons: hooligan or selfish.

Composition of the crime

If we consider the unlawful taking of a vehicle, then the crime is formed by the fact of illegal use of the car by third parties without the permission of the owner.
In this case, the owner can personally drive the car, but at the same time be deprived of freedom of choice. Such crimes are considered committed from the moment when the fact of unlawful possession is established. This refers to the start of the vehicle’s movement against the will of the owner. In this case, the method of movement of the vehicle no longer plays a role. An attacker can:

• start the engine;
• tow the car using another vehicle;
• push the car manually.

An attempted theft should be understood as actions when the criminals were unable to complete their plan due to circumstances beyond their control, for example, they broke down the car door but were unable to start the engine.

Signs of a failed theft

Usually, an attempt to illegally take possession of a vehicle is visible without any examination or investigative actions. This is clearly indicated by the following points:

• broken doors;
• damaged ignition switch;
• broken glass;
• damaged dashboard.

Important! In situations where the attacker did not have time to get inside the car, for example, he was scared off by passers-by or a police squad, fingerprints or a car burglary and car theft kit can be considered signs of a crime.