A pickpocket used a “bizarre dance” to distract a victim while stealing his mobile phone, police have said. Officers in Nottingham believe the street thief pretended to be drunk in order to fool his victim into thinking he was just being cheerful.
Nottinghamshire Police issued a video clip on Monday which shows a man approach the victim in Clumber Street just after 7.30am on November 16. The force said in a statement issued today (November 24): “After greeting the man with a fist bump and engaging him in conversation, he performs a bizarre dance where he places one of his legs between the victim’s leg and jumps up and down.
“The matter was reported to Nottinghamshire Police and today we are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man we would like to trace.”
Inspector Paul Gummer from the City Centre neighbourhood policing team said: “Officers were able to trace the offender’s prior movement to a McDonald’s.
“We therefore examined CCTV from the nearby branch and were able to obtain a clear image of the person responsible for this distraction theft. If you know who he is, please get in touch with us.”
Mr Gummer said the man does not appear to be intoxicated on the McDonald’s CCTV just minutes before the theft, but gave that impression when he was with the victim.
He added: “We therefore believe he pretended to be intoxicated as part of a ploy to trick the victim into thinking he posed no threat and was being jovial.”
The inspector said it was common for such offenders to claim they were performing a traditional cultural dance, while actually making a cynical bid to distract attention from their victim’s pockets.
Mr Gummer said: “I would therefore encourage the public to be vigilant against this brazen crime, avoid it happening to you and watch out for it happening to anyone else, particularly those who may be slightly too merry to recognise what’s happening to them during this festive period.”
Anyone who recognises the man have been asked to call 101 quoting crime number 25000672372.