State v. Smith

UHLENHOPP, Justice.

The question before us is whether stealing a tire and rim from a wheel on a car constitutes larceny “in” a motor vehicle.

Law officers who were called to a new-car lot at night discovered defendant emerging from the lot. They searched the lot and found a Buick car from which the left front tire and rim were missing. A tire, jack, and lug wrench were nearby. The officers located a Buick rim in the trunk of defendant’s Pontiac car a short distance away, but found no jack or lug wrench in the Pontiac. There was no indication that defendant had entered the Buick passenger…