It could have been a successful Burglary, if not for the tater tots. A man had effectively broken into a house and cased the place, all while the unknowing homeowner was upstairs. He probably could have gotten away with whatever he wanted to take, if he hadn’t seen the tater tots. But, when he did, he decided to take a pause from his Burglary for a snack break. Then, after filling up on the tots, he felt the need to take a nap on the sofa. During his snooze, the homeowner came downstairs and found the man. She obviously called 911 and ran out of the house, which woke the man up. He was arrested a few blocks away after trying to flee out the back.
Trespassing or Burglary in Fort Collins: Avoid the Tater Tots
Trespassing and Burglary are two very similar crimes:
| Trespass / Trespassing | Burglary | ||
| 1st Degree Criminal Trespass | *knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in a dwelling of another; or*knowingly and unlawfully entering a motor vehicle with intent to commit a crime therein | 1st Degree Burglary | *knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in a building or occupied structure with intent to commit another crime and assaults or menaces any person, is armed with explosives, or possesses or uses a deadly weapon |
| 2nd Degree Criminal Trespass | *unlawfully entering or remaining on someone’s fenced in property; or*knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in the common area of a hotel, motel, or apartment building; or*knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in someone else’s vehicle | 2nd Degree Burglary | *knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in a building or occupied structure with intent to commit another crime |
| 3rd Degree Criminal Trespass | *unlawfully entering or remaining on someone else’s property | 3rd Degree Burglary | *entering or breaking into any vault, safe, cash register, coin vending machine, product dispenser, money depository, safety deposit box, coin telephone, coin box, or other apparatus with the intent to commit another crime |
Burglary in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, includes the element of Trespassing, but adds the additional element of an intention to commit another crime. Usually, this other crime is Theft. Instead of charging a person with Trespassing and Theft after breaking into a house and taking valuables, the crime charged is Burglary. Technically, when the man ate the tater tots, he was stealing them. Therefore, he can be charged with Burglary because he entered into the woman’s house unlawfully, and stole snack foods from her.