DICKSON, C.J.
Here, there was evidence that the defendant had been in the church kitchen and opened several cupboards and drawers while there. This evidence, standing alone, permits a reasonable inference of the defendant’s felonious intent at the time of entry. Looking through the kitchen cupboards and drawers was not a necessary step in the act of breaking and entering the church. It was an additional act, separate and distinct from the breaking and entering, in which the defendant chose to engage. The opening of cabinets and drawers by an intruder suggests, among other things, that the person opening them was looking for something to take. From this, the jury reasonably could have concluded that the defendant broke and entered the church with an intent to commit theft. That there was no evidence that the defendant had rummaged through the drawers or cabinets, as the defendant argues, is of no consequence. The act of opening the drawers and cabinets alone was enough to support an inference of intent to commit theft. Evidence of rummaging would simply bolster the already reasonable inference of intent.
The defendant also argues that there is no evidence that he was near or approaching any valuable property while inside the church, drawing on brief discussions in Freshwater, 853 N.E.2d at 944–45 (declining to permit inference of intent to commit felony inside building where only evidence of intent was that defendant had been seen inside building at time of breaking and entering, but not seen near any valuable property, and fleeing after alarm sounded), and Justice, 530 N.E.2d at 297 (declining to permit inference of intent to commit specific felony from fact that defendant was seen wearing black socks on hands inside building he had broke and entered).
Neither of these cases, however, should be understood to suggest that sufficient evidence of in-tent necessarily requires evidence that the defendant was near or approaching valuable property. A defendant’s close proximity to valuable property may serve as an independent basis from which a reasonable inference of intent to commit a felony can be drawn. But, the absence of such evidence will not preclude conviction because the statutory definition of the crime of theft places no minimum threshold on the value of property necessary to constitute the felony. Ind. Code § 35-43-4-2(a) (“A person who knowingly or intentionally exerts unauthorized control over property of another person, with intent to deprive the other person of any part of its value or use, commits theft, a Class D felony.”). Thus, it is enough that in this case there was evidence that the defendant committed an act which could support an inference that he was searching for something to steal, no matter the value.
Sullivan, Rucker, David, and Massa, JJ., concur.