Property & Person Crimes (statutory) — NextGen Bar practice question

Late one evening, Garrett approaches a woman on a sidewalk, blocks her path, and says in a menacing tone, 'Give me your purse or I'll break your arm right now.' Frightened, she hands over the purse, and Garrett runs off with it, intending to keep it and its contents. He is later arrested and charged with robbery. Garrett concedes he took the purse but disputes that the crime is robbery rather than simple theft, since he never laid a hand on her.

Are the elements of robbery satisfied?

Option A. Incorrect answer. No, because Garrett never actually touched the woman.
Option B. Incorrect answer. No, because he threatened only to harm her, not actually to kill her.
Option C. Incorrect answer. Yes, because the purse was worth more than pocket change.
Option D. Correct answer. Yes, because he took property from her by an imminent threat.Correct

Why

Robbery is a larceny — a taking and carrying away of another's property with intent to permanently deprive — from the victim's person or presence, accomplished by force or by fear of imminent harm. Garrett took the purse from the woman's presence using a threat of immediate injury, which supplies the fear element and makes this robbery (D). A is wrong because robbery does not require physical contact; a threat that puts the victim in fear is enough, and intimidation is an alternative to actual force. B misstates the threshold: the threatened harm need not be death — fear of imminent bodily injury suffices, and 'I'll break your arm right now' easily qualifies. C is irrelevant, because robbery turns on the manner of the taking, not the property's value. The imminent threat used to seize the property is the crux.

Why