A BRAZEN train station “phone thief” was tackled to the floor by fuming passengers before police arrived to arrest him.
The suspected phone snatcher was pinned to the platform as fed up locals took it upon themselves to catch him.
X/@CrimeLDNA man was tackled to the floor by fuming passengers on Tuesday[/caption]
X/@CrimeLDNThe incident happened at Blackfriars station after a man was allegedly spotted swiping someone’s phone[/caption]
X/@CrimeLDNOne of the passengers holding him down demands he opens the phone to prove its his[/caption]
The incident happened at Blackfriars station after a man was allegedly spotted swiping someone’s phone on Tuesday night.
He then attempted to leave before others raced to stop him escaping.
In video footage online, a man can be seen pinned to the ground on the platform by brave passengers.
Two men can be seen holding down his legs and body as a crowd of shocked onlookers watch on.
The alleged phone thief can be seen protesting his innocence as he frantically denies he did anything wrong.
One of the other passengers holding him down can be heard repeatedly demanding the man to “open the phone” to prove its his.
Instead, the man keeps shouting “my leg, my leg” claiming it was “broken”.
Police arrived at the scene where they searched the man and discovered he had three mobile phones, a bank card with a different name and a backpack containing a laptop.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Officers were called to Blackfriars railway station at around 10.30pm, September 9, following reports of a phone theft.
“Officers attended and a man in his 20s was arrested and taken into custody.
“Upon being searched, he was found in possession of three mobile phones, a bank card with a different name, and a backpack containing a laptop.”
It’s not the only example of someone immediately regretting their decision recently either.
The Sun reported in July how a suspected phone snatcher got instant karma after he was seen riding towards central London.
Shocking footage shows cops racing down a street while he was seen masked up and dressed in all-black as he cycles in the opposite direction.
Phone theft has soared in recent years and even prompted one retailer in London’s top shopping district to warn pedestrians to get off their phones.
Electrical retailer Currys painted purple lines along Oxford Street to remind shoppers to step back from the kerb and keep their mobiles hidden from e-bike thieves.
The Sun reported this week how a global network of gangs move stolen phones around the world.
Nowhere is the menace worse than in London, with more than 70,000 cases — three quarters of the national total — reported in 2024.
James Bond actress Rosamund Pike revealed recently how she was punched in the face and robbed of her phone in London, while talking on it to her mum.
X/@CrimeLDNA crowd of shocked onlookers watched on before police arrived[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
