A man wearing a Teenage Ninja Turtles mask pulled his car up to the window of a drive-through pharmacy in Shiloh, Illinois and demanded a detailed list of prescription medications. He gave the pharmacist a note with instructions and said that if the pharmacist did not obey, force would be used and that there were other accomplices involved. However, before the man was delivered the medications, he drove off. Since he did not actually take anything, did a robbery occur? The short answer is yes. He can be charged with robbery, but not with theft.
You Do Not Have to Steal Anything in Order to Be Charged with Robbery
The offense of robbery is different than theft in that theft requires that something be unknowingly taken or attempted to be taken from the victim. The value of the property taken determines the level of the crime. Robbery, on the other hand, is a crime of violence and the value of goods taken or attempted to be taken has nothing to do with the level of the crime.
...