Criminal element runs succeeding American town (7)
I believe the answer is:
burglar
'criminal' is the definition.
(I know that burglar is a type of thief)
'element runs succeeding american town' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'element' could be 'la' (La is an example) and 'la' is located in the answer.
'runs' could be 'r' (cricket abbreviation) and 'r' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for burglar that I've seen before include "Thief (entering building)" , "One breaking in" , "Intruder with intent to steal" , "Thieving intruder" , "Thief who enters a building to steal" .)