Often when a crime occurs, it involves multiple potential criminal charges. A good example is when a person breaks into a business and steals a safe that he or she then later breaks open. In this scenario, not only would the person face charges for breaking and entering and theft but also safecracking. As the prosecutor adds charges to a crime, it increases the potential penalties, which is why a person should understand every charge against him or her to mount a solid defense.
Looking at the example, one of the charges that people may not be familiar with is safecracking. According to the North Carolina General Assembly, safe cracking is when a person opens a safe illegally. This may happen in various ways:
Illegal action
The first important point in safecracking is that the person has no business trying to open the safe. Generally, this means that even if the person has permission in general to open the safe and does so with a combination or a key but he or she does not have permission at this specific time to open it, then it is safecracking. More often, though, safecracking occurs when someone does not have access to the safe normally and is breaking it open through devious methods.
Removal from property
Safecracking also occurs through the simple act of removing a safe from its location. So, if someone breaks into a business and steals its safe but then later cannot get the safe open, then it is still safecracking. There does not have to be the actual act of getting the safe open to face this criminal charge.
Large safes
Crimes involving large safes or vaults are not immune to safecracking charges. Safecracking also includes entering a safe or vault illegally, which covers those that a person cannot remove from the premises or that may already be open when they begin their criminal actions, such as during a bank robbery.