Can a defendant who assaulted a security officer who was trying to recover merchandise he had concealed and taken from the store without paying for it be convicted of petty theft?

As the parties acknowledge, here all convictions arose from a single course of conduct wherein defendant assaulted a security officer who was attempting to recover merchandise defendant had concealed and taken from the store without paying for it. As such, defendant's petty theft conviction cannot stand. (See Villa, supra, 157 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1434-1435 [petty theft with a prior and robbery]; People v. La Stelley (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 1396, 1400-1402 [grand theft and robbery].)

Page 4