The police usually charge someone with criminal mischief and base the level of the charge on the value that the person who reports the crime says the property is worth. For example, if you smash someone’s iPhone and they tell the cops the phone was worth $1000, you would be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor. However, the real price of an item is a defense in a case like this and can help you reduce the charges you are facing. If, for example, your criminal defense attorney was able to prove that the other person only paid $400 for the iPhone, your charges could be reduced by two levels to a class 3 misdemeanor.