People v. Phebus

Which criminal offense, larceny or obtaining property by false pretenses, is committed when a shopper switches a price tag on merchandise he proposes to buy so that a lower price appears on the merchandise?

Defendant was charged with larceny in a build ing, MCL 750.360; MSA 28.592. At the preliminary examination, a store detective for Meijer Thrifty Acres testified that she had observed defendant remove a prive tag marked $1.88 from an unfinished decorator shelf and place it on a finished decorator shelf, which had been marked $6.53. The detective said that defendant walked over to his wife…