Read Next
robbery
criminal law
- Key People:
- Moll Cutpurse
- O.J. Simpson
- John Dillinger
- Patty Hearst
- Ronnie Biggs
- Related Topics:
- hijacking
- piracy
- armed robbery
- wakō
- Barbary pirate
robbery, in criminal law, an aggravated form of theft that involves violence or the threat of violence against a victim in his presence. Many criminologists have long regarded statistics on robbery to be one of the most accurate gauges of the overall crime rate.