Sec. 94-74. Theft.
(a) A person commits theft when he or she knowingly obtains, retains, or exercises control over anything of value of another having a value of less than $1,000 without authorization or by threat or deception; or receives, loans money by pawn or pledge on, or disposes of anything of value or belonging to another that he or she knows or believes to have been stolen; and
(1) Intends to deprive the other person permanently of the use or benefit of the thing of value;
(2) Knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the thing of value in such manner as to deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit;
(3) Uses, conceals, or abandons the thing of value intending that such use, concealment, or abandonment will deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit; or
(4) Demands any consideration to which that person is not legally entitled as a condition of restoring the thing of value to the other person.
(5) Knowingly retains the thing of value more than 72 hours after the agreed-upon time of return in any lease or hire agreement.
(b) It shall be unlawful to knowingly transfer a label or other designation of price from one item to another or alter the item with intent to purchase such item at a lesser cost.
(c) If any person willfully conceals unpurchased goods, wares, or merchandise owned or held by and offered or displayed for sale by any store or other mercantile establishment, whether the concealment is on that person's own body, clothing or otherwise and whether on or off the premises of the store or mercantile establishment, such concealment shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person intended to commit the crime of theft.
(d) It shall be unlawful to procure food or accommodations with the intent to defraud in any public establishment without making payment therefor in accordance with an agreement with such public establishment where the total amount due under such agreement is $1,000 or less. For the purposes of this subsection, the following words have the following meanings:
Agreement with such public establishment means any written or verbal agreement as to the price to be charged for and the acceptance of food, beverage, service, or accommodations where the price to be charged therefor is printed on a menu or schedule of rates shown to or made available by a public establishment to the patron and includes the acceptance of such food, beverage, service, or accommodations for which a reasonable charge is made.
Public establishment means any establishment selling or offering for sale prepared food or beverages to the public generally, or any establishment leasing or renting overnight sleeping accommodations to the public generally, including but not exclusively restaurants, cafes, dining rooms, lunchcounters, coffeeshops, boardinghouses, hotels, motor hotels, motels, and roominghouses, unless the rental thereof is on a month-to-month basis or a longer period of time.
(e) For the purpose of this section, the terms "anything having value," "anything of value," and "thing of value" shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Any tangible or intangible thing, including property, which has value or may be exchanged for monetary consideration, including any "major component of a motor vehicle." A "major component of a motor vehicle" means any of the following parts of a motor vehicle:
a. The engine;
b. The transmission;
c. A front fender;
d. The hood;
e. Any door allowing entrance to or egress from the passenger compartment of the vehicle;
f. The front or rear bumper;
g. A rear quarter panel;
h. The deck lid, tailgate, or hatchback;
i. The trunk floor pan;
j. The cargo box of a pickup truck;
k. The frame, or if the vehicle has a unitized body, the supporting structure or structures that serve as the frame;
l. The cab of a truck;
m. The body of a passenger vehicle;
n. An airbag or airbag assembly;
o. A wheel or tire;
p. A catalytic converter; or
q. Any other part of a motor vehicle that is comparable in design or function to any of the parts that have been listed, or that have been labeled with a unique traceable identification number, by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or part;
(2) Any services for which a person would reasonably expect to provide monetary compensation; or
(3) Any compensation to which a person is entitled for services provided.
(f) For the purposes of this subsection, the term "services" shall not include the provision of shelter or housing for any term whatsoever.
(g) Evidence of value.
(1) For purposes of this section, when theft occurs from a store, evidence of the retail value of the thing involved shall be prima facie evidence of the value of the thing involved. Evidence offered to prove retail value may include but shall not be limited to affixed labels and tags, signs, shelf tags, and notices.
(2) For the purposes of this section, in all cases where theft occurs, evidence of the value of the thing involved may be established through the sale price of other similar property and may include but shall not be limited to testimony regarding affixed labels and tags, signs, shelf tags, and notices tending to indicate the price of the thing involved. Hearsay evidence shall not be excluded in determining the value of the thing involved. (Code 1979, § 27-53; Ord. No. 2022-37, § 3, 7-11-2022; Ord. No. 2013-29, § 1, 9-9-2013; Ord. No. 2007-84, §§ 2—4, 12-17-2007; Ord. No. 98-64, § 2, 10-5-1998)