[ElDiabloJoe]

I know we are splitting hairs, and not at all truly about the posted topic, but every state has a different definition and set of elements for different crimes and degrees. For the 2% that would be interested in this topic, for what it is worth, this is California's. If you don't care, just scroll on down:

211PC - Robbery: (PC or CPC is the abbreviation for Penal Code, one of several dozen types of codes in CA, including Vehicle Codes, Commercial Codes, etc.) the taking of something from or about a person by use of force or fear. In this case, pushing a clerk as they run out the store on a beer run is a Robbery. It is called an Estes robbery due to case law. A building itself cannot be "robbed." A victim must be a person. "About a person" means if you snatched a purse from the cart a lady was pushing and shoved her or threatened he while doing it, or grabbed a briefcase on the ground next to a guy at the bus stop while brushing past him, that is "From about a person using force or fear."

459PC - Burglary: Entering a four-sided structure with the intent to commit petty theft or ANY felony. Case law has shown that entering a structure is very broad - with extensions of the body included. For example, if you drill through a rooftop with the intent to drop a line and snag a wad of bills, the drill bit entering the plane of the rooftop is an extension of your hand and therefore you "entered" the structure with intent. If you put an ATM card into a machine that is flush on the wall of a bank, with the intent to defraud the machine or bank, you have broken the plane with an extension of your body, thereby entering the structure with intent. Back in the day, entering a phone booth to break open the coin box was not only theft (petty or grand dependent on the amount stolen or the specificity of the item(s) stolen) but also burglary for entering the four-sided structure with intent (like bringing the hammer to open the coin box).

Anyhow, I could talk about this all day. I'm a blast at cocktail parties. Digressing...