What offense occurs when a person steals a purse from an elderly woman while causing her a scratch?

The situation described involves a person stealing a purse from an elderly woman and causing her a scratch in the process. In this scenario, the correct answer is aggravated robbery. Aggravated robbery is defined as a theft that involves the use of force or the threat of force, and it is further aggravated if serious bodily injury or threats are involved, especially against vulnerable individuals such as the elderly.

In this case, the act of stealing the purse while causing injury to the woman elevates the offense from simple theft to aggravated robbery. The scratch indicates that some level of physical interaction took place during the commission of the theft, which aligns with how aggravated robbery is categorized. This factor of using or threatening physical force to complete the theft is crucial in determining the severity of the crime.

The other choices—robbery, theft, and assault—do not fully encapsulate the combination of theft with the physical altercation involved here. Robbery typically requires the use of force or intimidation but may not specify causing bodily harm; theft would apply to taking property without force but does not involve harm to a person; and assault generally pertains to causing harm or instilling fear but does not include stealing property. Hence, the culmination of these elements in this scenario accurately points to aggravated robbery