Property Value

• California Penal Code Sections 484 and 488 define petty theft as the stealing of someone else's property with a value up to $400.
  
  

Committing Theft

• There are several ways petty theft is committed. False pretenses is committing theft by lying or misrepresenting oneself to gain possession of someone's property. Theft by trick occurs when someone changes a price tag to purchase a higher valued item for a much lower price. Embezzlement is taking property that a person was entrusted with on someone else's behalf. This is especially common when an employee steals merchandise. Lastly, larceny is the most common theft, when someone takes possession of, and carries away, property belonging to someone else.
  
  

Penalty

• Regardless of how petty theft is committed, the punishment is the same. A California court can issue one or all of the following penalties: six months in jail, a $1,000 fine and three years probation. For a first offense, the district attorney may dismiss the charge if the defendant performs community service, returns the property or pays the value to its owner and completes an anti-theft program.