New | Brazen Chinese thief caught after he tries to steal again from the same shop dressed in clothes he took just a day before
A brazen clothes thief in China has been caught red-handed after he had the audacity to return to his victim’s shop dressed in the suit and sweater he stole from her just a day earlier.
The fuming owner of the shop in Hefei, central Anhui province, said she felt that the thief had insulted her intelligence, state-run Anhui Commercial Daily reported.
The thief, a balding middle-aged man, had showed up at the clothes shop on Sunday afternoon, according to the shop owner, who was identified only by her surname Gan.
Gan immediately recognised him as the man who had made off with clothes from her store after trying them out just the day before.
She remembered the man as she had personally served him as he tried on the suit and sweater, which he later ran away in without even bothering to change out of them.
The man was even dressed in the exact same outfit he had taken from the shop, Gan said. He had adjusted his hairstyle slightly, though, she noted.
The brazen thief entered the shop and interacted normally with Gan as if they had never met before, according to the report.
“The thief was so cocky that he dared to try stealing again while dressed in the exact same clothes he had taken from the same store,” Gan said.
“I was so mad at the time, but in order to get hold of more evidence of him stealing my clothes, I played along and behaved as if I, too, had never met him.”
The shop owner also texted the owner of her neighbouring shop, Sun, for help.
Sun came over on the pretext of helping Gan tend her shop while Gan pretended to leave to collect a parcel.
Seizing upon what he thought was another opportunity to steal, the thief then tried to stuff a sweater under his clothes and exit the shop immediately.
But an alert Sun had his actions caught on video.
The two shop owners then barred the man’s way out at the door.
Upon realising he had been caught, the man fell to his knees, wept and begged to be given a chance. But Gan called the police, who arrived shortly to take the man away.
Police later said the unemployed man confessed his wrongdoings. He might have enjoyed the thrill of stealing, police said.
