Arrested for Burglary in the Inland Empire?

You are booked and held until you post bail or see a judge. If you stay in custody, you must be brought to court for arraignment, usually within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays. At arraignment, the judge reads the charges, takes your plea and rules on bail or release. The judge may also order you to stay away from the property or the people involved. The prosecutor can also file charges later if you were released. The sooner we’re involved, the sooner we can start working on your case.

Burglary (PC 459) means entering a home, store, office, other building or locked vehicle with the intent to steal or to commit a felony inside. You don’t have to break in, and you don’t have to take anything. Walking through an open door can be enough if the prosecutor says you planned the theft or felony when you went in. Many cases turn on what you intended at the moment you entered.

First degree, or residential, burglary (PC 460(a)) is burglary of an inhabited home, including an apartment, mobile home, houseboat or the lived-in part of another building. A home is inhabited if someone is living in it, even if no one was there at the time. First degree burglary is always a felony.

Second degree burglary (PC 460(b)) is every other kind, such as a store, office, warehouse or locked car. It can be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony.

Whether the place was inhabited is often one of the most important issues in the case.

Not necessarily, but the risk is real. First degree burglary carries two, four or six years in state prison, and probation is allowed only in unusual cases (PC 462). Second degree burglary carries up to one year in county jail as a misdemeanor, or 16 months, two or three years as a felony, usually served in county jail. Many second degree cases, especially first offenses, are resolved with probation. The outcome depends on the facts, the property involved, your record and how the case is handled from the start.

First degree burglary is. It is a serious felony under California’s Three Strikes law (PC 1192.7(c)(18)), so a conviction counts as a strike. If someone other than an accomplice was home at the time, and the prosecutor charges and proves it, it is also a violent felony (PC 667.5(c)(21)). That limits the credits you can earn, so you serve at least 85% of the sentence. Second degree burglary, by itself, is not a strike.

Usually not. Entering an open store intending to steal property worth $950 or less is shoplifting (PC 459.5), usually a misdemeanor, and it must be charged as shoplifting, not burglary. It can be charged as burglary if the value is over $950, the store was closed, or the prosecutor says you went in to commit a different felony. Under Proposition 36, passed in 2024, a new petty theft or shoplifting charge can be filed as a felony if you have two or more prior theft convictions, and prior burglary convictions count (PC 666.1).

It can be. Entering a car with intent to steal is burglary (PC 459) when the doors were locked. Since 2025, California also has a separate crime, unlawful entry of a vehicle (PC 465), for forcing your way in, such as breaking a window or using a lockout tool, without having to prove the doors were locked. Both can be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony, but you can’t be convicted of both for the same entry.

No. Politely decline to answer questions and ask for a lawyer. Statements you make to police are often the strongest evidence in the case, even when you think they help you. Don’t contact the property owner or witnesses, and don’t discuss the case by text, email, social media or jail phone calls. All of it can be recorded and used.

It depends on the evidence. Common defenses include:

• You didn’t intend to steal or commit a felony when you went in
• You had a right to enter, such as your own home
• Mistaken identity, such as unclear video or an unreliable witness
• The place was not inhabited, which makes it second degree, not first
• Evidence found in an illegal search, which can be thrown out
• Insufficient evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt

We review the police report, surveillance and body camera video, fingerprint and DNA results, phone location data and witness statements to find the weaknesses in the case.

Often, yes. Depending on the evidence, charges may be dismissed, never filed, or reduced to a lesser charge such as second degree burglary, trespassing (PC 602) or petty theft. A felony second degree burglary can often be reduced to a misdemeanor (PC 17(b)), and some misdemeanor cases may be eligible for diversion, which ends in dismissal (PC 1001.95). If you are convicted and complete probation, you may be able to have the conviction dismissed under PC 1203.4. An expungement does not erase a strike: the conviction can still be used in a later case. For non-citizens, a burglary conviction can carry serious immigration consequences, so talk to us before entering any plea.