Vehicle Code § 10851 a VC – Driving or Taking a Vehicle without Consent

Vehicle Code § 10851 VC makes it a crime to take or drive someone else’s vehicle without their consent. This is informally referred to as “joyriding“. The offense can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony and is punishable by up to 3 years in jail.

Note that police officers commonly write the citation as

• 10851 VC or as
• 10851 CVC.

These are short for the California Vehicle Code.

The language of the code section states that

10851. Any person who drives or takes a vehicle not his or her own, without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent either to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his or her title to or possession of the vehicle, whether with or without intent to steal the vehicle, or any person who is a party or an accessory to or an accomplice in the driving or unauthorized taking or stealing, is guilty of a public offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year…or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

Examples

• Hotwiring a neighbor’s car in order to make it to the airport on time to catch a flight
• While house-sitting for a friend, “borrowing” the friend’s car (with no consent)
• Without permission to do so, taking a parent’s car out to go on a date

Defenses

There are several legal defenses that you can raise. These include showing that you:

• Had a claim of right over the vehicle;
• Drove or took a vehicle with the owner’s consent; or
• Acted under duress.

Penalties

A violation of this section is a wobbler offense, meaning that it can be punished as either a misdemeanor or a felony.

If charged as a misdemeanor, the crime is punishable by:

• Imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year; and/or,
• A fine of up to $5,000.

If charged as a felony, the crime is punishable by imprisonment in state prison for a term of up to three years.

Penalties increase if you:

• Drive or take an ambulance, police vehicle, or fire department vehicle; or,
• Have one or more prior felony convictions of either joyriding or felony grand theft, per California Penal Code 487.

In these circumstances, you may receive a jail term of up to four years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Note that a separate statute, Penal Code 499b, makes it illegal to “joyride” a bike or vessel.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will explain the following in this article:

• 1. What does it mean to drive or take a vehicle without consent?
• 2. How can I defend against 10851 VC charges?
  • 2.1. Claim or Right
  • 2.2. Owner’s Consent
  • 2.3. Duress
• 3. What are the consequences of a conviction?
• 4. What other crimes tend to get charged together with joyriding?
  • 4.1. Grand Theft Auto – PC 487(d)(1)
  • 4.2. Grand Theft – PC 487
  • 4.3. Auto Burglary – PC 459
  • 4.4 Malicious Mischief to a Vehicle – VC 10853

1. What does it mean to drive or take a vehicle without consent?

A prosecutor must prove three elements to show that you are guilty under Vehicle Code 10851.

These include proving that:

1. You drove or took someone else’s vehicle;
2. The owner of the vehicle did not consent to the driving or taking; and,
3. You acted with the intent to deny the vehicle’s owner of possession of the vehicle for any period of time.¹

Please note that with regards to the third element, you are still guilty of this section no matter if you intend to deny possession:

• Temporarily; or
• Permanently.²

This means you violate the law even if you did not intend to steal the car permanently. “Borrowing” a motor vehicle is sufficient for an accusation of joyriding.

Under PC 10851, the determination as to whether you had “the intent to deny” is based upon the specific facts of a case. But, note that the mere possession of a car, under suspicious circumstances, is usually enough to prove intent.³

2. How can I defend against 10851 VC charges?

If you are accused under Vehicle 10851, you can challenge the accusation by raising reasonable doubt. A good defense can often cause the district attorney to reduce or even dismiss a charge. Please note, though, that it is critical for you to hire an attorney to get the most effective defense.

Three common defenses are:

1. Claim of right;
2. Owner’s consent; and/or,
3. Duress.

2.1. Claim of Right

In this particular context, a claim of right simply means that you rightfully owned the car that you drove or took. You cannot commit a crime under Vehicle Code 10851 if you have a claim of right to (that is, you owned) the vehicle involved. This defense is often raised when it is unclear as to whose name a car’s title is under.

2.2. Owner’s Consent

Recall that an element of the crime of joyriding is that a car’s owner must not have consented to you driving or taking the car. A solid defense, therefore, is for you to show that you had the vehicle owner’s consent to drive it.

Please note, though, that consent must be given for the specific facts of a given case. This section expressly states that consent cannot:

Be presumed or implied because of the owner’s consent on a previous occasion.⁴

2.3. Duress

To best understand this defense, think of a case where a bank robber holds a pedestrian at gunpoint and tells him to get into a running car and drive them away.

Duress is a legal defense in which an accused basically says: “He made me do it.” The defense applies to the very limited situation in which you commit a crime (here, unlawfully taking a car), because somebody threatened to kill you if the crime was not committed.

3. What are the consequences of a conviction?

Under Vehicle Code 10851 VC, the crime of unlawfully taking or driving of a vehicle is a wobbler offense. This means it can be punished as either a California misdemeanor or a felony.

If charged as a misdemeanor, the crime is punishable by:

• Imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year; and/or,
• A fine of up to $5,000.⁵

If prosecuted as a felony charge, the crime is punishable by a state prison term of:

• 16 months;
• Two years; or,
• Three years.⁶

These penalties increase if you:

• drive or take an ambulance, law enforcement vehicle, or fire department vehicle on an emergency call⁷; or,
• Have one or more prior felony convictions of either joyriding or felony grand theft⁸.

In these circumstances, you may receive a fine of up to $10,000, and/or, imprisonment in a county jail for:

• Two years;
• Three years; or,
• Four years.⁹

4. What other crimes tend to get charged together with joyriding?

There are four related offenses to joyriding, under VC 10851. These are:

1. Grand theft auto – PC 487(d)(1)
2. Grand theft – PC 487
3. Auto burglary – PC 459
4. Malicious mischief to a vehicle – VC 10853

4.1. Grand Theft Auto – PC 487(d)(1)

California Penal Code 487(d)(1) (grand theft auto) makes it a crime for you to permanently take another’s vehicle.

Under PC 487(d)(1), a prosecutor must prove several elements in order to successfully convict you of grand theft auto (sometimes referred to as “GTA”). These include:

1. You took someone’s car (other than your own);
2. The car was worth more than $950 dollars;
3. You did not have permission from the owner to take the car;
4. When you took the car, you intended to either deprive the owner of it permanently, or, to take it away for a significant period of time; and,
5. You moved the car (even if only a very short distance) and kept it for a period of time (however brief).¹⁰

GTA is a wobbler offense, meaning vehicle theft can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. In practice, however, the crime typically leads to a felony that is punishable by a jail term of:

• 16 months;
• Two years; or,
• Three years.¹¹

4.2. Grand Theft – PC 487

The crime of theft under California law is defined as the unlawful taking of someone else’s property.¹²

When the property taken is valued at more than $950, the theft is considered the California crime of grand theft under Penal Code 487 PC.¹³

In proving a grand theft charge, under PC 487, a prosecutor can show that you committed a theft crime by any of the following:

• Larceny;
• False pretenses;
• Trick; and/or,
• Embezzlement.

In most cases, the offense of grand theft in California is a wobbler, meaning it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony.

If charged as a misdemeanor, you can get sentenced to up to one year in county jail.

If charged with felony grand theft, you can get sentenced to a jail term of either:

• 16 months;
• Two years; or,
• Three years.¹⁴

4.3. Auto Burglary – PC 459

In California, the crime of auto burglary, per Penal Code 459, takes place when you enter a locked automobile or its trunk, with the intent to either:

1. Steal the car;
2. Steal property contained in the car; or,
3. Commit any other California felony inside the vehicle.¹⁵

California auto burglary is a form of so-called “second-degree” burglary.¹⁶

Second-degree burglary (including auto burglary, per PC 459) is a wobbler, meaning it can get charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony.

If charged as a misdemeanor, the maximum penalty is imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year.¹⁷

If charged as a felony, the maximum jail sentence is three years.¹⁸

4.4. Malicious Mischief to a Vehicle – VC 10853

Vehicle Code 10853 VC makes it a crime to engage in malicious mischief to a vehicle. This is defined as defacing, damaging or destroying a vehicle without the owner’s consent. Vehicle Code 10853 is a misdemeanor charge. A conviction carries a sentence of up to 6 months in county jail.

For additional help…

If you or someone you know has been accused of joyriding, per Penal Code 10851, our criminal defense attorneys invite you to contact us for a free consultation. We can be reached 24/7 by calling us or completing the contact form on its page.

Our criminal defense lawyers create attorney-client relationships throughout the state of California, including Los Angeles County, Long Beach, Torrance, Riverside, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, Pasadena, Orange County, and more. We defend against all types of criminal charges, from petty theft to three-strikes law offenses. And we also seal or expunge criminal histories.

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