Objective: to identify the elements and strategies used in the commission of the crime of theft, in relation to the three dimensions described by Garrido (2011) as constituent of the modus operandi of the offender: "to protect the identity - achieve successfully the aggression and facilitate escape after the aggression". Method: the study dealt with a group of 63 inmates of two penitentiary and prison institutions of the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia. 14.54% of the sample corresponded to the female sex and 85.46% were males, with an average age of 26.88 and a standard deviation of 7.59 years. Results: we used a multiple correspondence analysis which demonstrates that there are similar characteristics that are grouped around each dimensión. This allows to describe some preferences in the strategies used by the offender in the criminal act. Finally, the women in this study did not adjust to the category protect identity, constitutive of the modus operandi.