delivered the opinion of the court:
Thе record in the cause discloses that a detective of the Joliet Police Department, Sidney Edwards, received a call that someone was prowling around the Joliet Auto Mart the night of April 14, 1968. The Joliet Auto Mart is a usеd car lot aproximately 75 by 100 feet with an office building in the middle of the lot. When Officer Edwards arrived at the lot at about 10:15 P.M. he drove around to the north side of the building where the only door to the building was located. The lot and the office building were both well lighted and there were lights on the inside of the office building at the time. As Officer Edwards got out of his automobile and looked toward the building he was approximately 22 feet from the door of the building. He then saw the faсe of a person protruding from the office door. Officer Edwards got back into his car to get a gun, but before he could come around to the front of his automobile a male Negro ran out of the office and continued on in a northerly direction. The officer called upon him to stop and feed a warning shot but the man refused to stop. The officer did not pursue the man. At the same time two other officers arrived, and Edwards gave them a description of the man and told them in which direction he ran. He stated that the man was a male Negro in his late 20’s wearing a light, bright green sweater and had a white hat in his hand.
The defendant David Brown had been known to Officer Edwards for a number оf years, and, although Officer Edwards saw the face of the man who looked out of the Joliet Auto Mart, he did not at that time tell the other officers that the man he saw was David Brown. Officer Edwards said that he thought that David Brown was still serving time in the State Penitentiary. The evidence disclosed that David Brown had been paroled from the penitentiary about 17 days previously. Detective Edwards identified David Brown in open court as the man he saw in the Joliet Auto Mart building the night of April 14, 1968. The officer also testified that he inspected the building on the lot and that nails and screws on the lock of the door to the office had been pried off so the door could be opened. On the inside of the building, the drаwers in the desk were opened and the contents were disarranged. The manager of Joliet Auto Mart testified that he went to the lot on the night of April 14, 1968, after being called by the police, and that he found the drawers disarranged but that nothing was missing. He also testified that the Mart had been open until 5:00 P.M.
The two officers, who came on the scene shortly after Detective Edwards noted the defendant running in a northerly direction, both testified that Detective Edwards described the subject as a male Negro in his late 20’s wearing a bright green sweater shirt and carrying a white hat. These two officers proceeded north along the оne long block north of the Joliet Auto Mart. As they approached the Martin Oil Station at the comer of Scott and Jackson, they saw the defendant come around from the rear on the east side of the building. He was wearing the same clothing as described by Detective Edwards. This was about five minutes after the two officers had left the Joliet Auto Mart. There was evidence that a person could go from the north end of the Joliet Auto Mart to the Martin Oil Station by going along the railroad tracks, and could thus stay off the street. The defendant was recognized by one of the officers as David Brown. He noted that the defendant Brown was out of breath at the time he was seen at thе Martin Oil Station. Defendant David Brown asserted that he was using the restroom at the Martin Oil Station, but the evidence indicated that there was no restroom behind the building. David Brown was arrested and on the way to the police station he wаs taken past the Joliet Auto Mart where Detective Edwards identified David Brown as the man he had seen in the building, who was known to him, and who ran away from him. Detective Edwards also stated that he knew David Brown by name although he had not namеd him specifically prior to this time.
Defense witnesses and defendant Brown himself testified that he was with his family on the night of April 14, 1968, and that he left his brother and his cousin about 9:45 P.M. to go to the restroom in the Martin Oil Station. He denied any connection with the break-in at Joliet Auto Mart.
Following a trial by jury, defendant was found guilty and sentenced thereafter to a term of from four to ten years.
On appeal in this Court, defendant contends that the State failed to produce evidеnce of all of the elements of the offense of burglary in that the State failed to introduce any evidence of (1) defendant’s intent at the time of his alleged entry into the building and (2) that the State failed to introduce any evidenсe of defendant’s lack of authority to enter the building allegedly burglarized. It is also contended on appeal that the evidence of the State was insufficient to suport a conviction.
The first question for consideratiоn on appeal is whether there was a sufficient identification of the defendant as being the person in the Joliet Auto Mart. It is noted that Detective Edwards testified that he saw the face of the defendant in the auto mart building whеn he was only 22 feet away and when the area was well lighted. He stated that the defendant
On the basis of the record in this case, the evidence indicated that defendant was in the Joliet Auto Mart on the evening of April 14, 1968, at the time Officer Edwards referred to; that he was apprehended in the same block just five minutes after he was seen by Detective Edwards; that he was out of breath at the time when he gave an excuse as to being in a
It is also contended that thеre was insufficient evidence presented of defendant’s lack of authority to enter the building of Joliet Auto Mart at the time referred to. It is true that the State could easily have ascertained this by asking a simple question, but, in the instant case there is no direct evidence that defendant did not have authority to be in the building. Although we cannot infer lack of authority from the fact that defendant forced his way into the building since there is no direct proof that the defendant was the party who forced open tire door, the State contends that under the precedents of People v. Schneller,
“Although intent is а matter of fact and cannot be implied as a matter of law, criminal intent may be shown by circumstantial evidence. (People v. Weiss,367 Ill. 580 , 586; People v. Martishuis,361 Ill. 178 .) ‘Intent, being a state of mind, is rarely susceptible of direct proof, but ordinarily must be inferred frоm the acts and conduct of the party and the facts and circumstances attending them which reasonably indicate them to the minds of others.’ ”
And, as the court in People v. Johnson,
“Intent must ordinarily be proved circumstantially, by inferences drawn from conduct apрraised in its factual environment.”
We recognize that while intent can be proven from circumstantial evidence, the circumstantial facts must be such as are consistent with defendant’s guilt and not with any other reasonable theory of innocence. (People v. Gooch,
On the basis of the record before us, therefore, we believe that the jury was justified in coming to the cоnclusion, based upon the evidence in the cause, that defendant was in the premises with intent to commit a theft. We do not believe, therefore, that we would be justified in reversing the judgment of the Circuit Court of Will County. The judgment of the Circuit Court of Will County will, therefore, be affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
RYAN, P. J., and STOUDER, J., concur.