Robbery

Mikey is walking down the street in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, wearing his brand new leather jacket of which he is very proud. Suddenly, out of nowhere, George sneaks up behind him and pulls hard on the jacket. Mikey’s arm flails backwards and his jacket is pulled right off and George runs away.

Later George is caught and arrested and charged with robbery. Robbery is the taking of personal property via force or violence or the threat of force or violence. Pickpocketing, although of course constituting larceny, has not generally been held to constitute robbery because it is not accomplished by force or violence. George argues that though he is guilty of larceny, he is not guilty of robbery under Florida law because he did not use force or violence to steal the jacket and his actions were more akin to pickpocketing than to robbery.

Is George correct or is he guilty of robbery? Please use Florida case law to justify and explain your response.

An IRAC-based essay is appropriate for this question.