Criminal nearly getting caught for theft (7)
I believe the answer is:
larceny
'for theft' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'criminal nearly getting caught' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'getting' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'nearly' anagrammed gives 'lareny'.
'lareny' going around 'c' is 'LARCENY'.
(Other definitions for larceny that I've seen before include "Stealing - theft" , "crime" , "taking offence" , "Robbery" , "Burglary" .)