Pickpocket spotted in action
 

I live near Paris and a few days ago in St Michel railway station I
spotted a pickpocket at work.

A couple of asian tourists were going down stairs looking at direction
signs. The young thief walked down just behind them. The man had a
sort of box like bag with a strap slung over the shoulder. It was
hanging near his hip a little behind. While the couple was going down
and the box was jerked the thief started to search the box in find of
valuable, his foray lost in the general movement.

We, with a passerby, spotted him at the same time and stopped him. We
asked the couple to check their valuables and since everything was OK
and the thief was a minor we let him loose.

So when visiting touristic places (everywhere in the world) just
remember to keep watchful and not to have open bags, wallets in the
back pocket of your pants... Be careful of children if they seem out
of place (late at night, in small groups with no school bag...).
Nothing to be afraid of but it is a noisance.

LordAvalon wrote:

So when visiting touristic places (everywhere in the world) just
remember to keep watchful and not to have open bags, wallets in the
back pocket of your pants... Be careful of children if they seem out
of place (late at night, in small groups with no school bag...).
Nothing to be afraid of but it is a noisance.

When my son was 16 he went on a school trip to Europe. We live in a
small town and the chaperone was not terribly street wise. When an old
lady bumped into my son on the bus (intentionally) he pushed her away and
yelled at her. The chaperone was shocked at his behaviour and blasted him
for being rude to an old lady. When she was finished berating him she
discovered that her wallet was missing from her purse. The old girl was a
pickpocket.

LordAvalon writes:

I live near Paris and a few days ago in St Michel railway station I
spotted a pickpocket at work.

A couple of asian tourists were going down stairs looking at direction
signs. The young thief walked down just behind them. The man had a
sort of box like bag with a strap slung over the shoulder. It was
hanging near his hip a little behind. While the couple was going down
and the box was jerked the thief started to search the box in find of
valuable, his foray lost in the general movement.

We, with a passerby, spotted him at the same time and stopped him. We
asked the couple to check their valuables and since everything was OK
and the thief was a minor we let him loose.

So when visiting touristic places (everywhere in the world) just
remember to keep watchful and not to have open bags, wallets in the
back pocket of your pants... Be careful of children if they seem out
of place (late at night, in small groups with no school bag...).
Nothing to be afraid of but it is a noisance.

I've seen Gypsy children examining the pockets of tourists gazing at
Notre-Dame cathedral in a very obvious way; amazingly, tourists do not
seem to notice it. Easy pickings for pickpockets.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

"LordAvalon" wrote in message
om...
I live near Paris and a few days ago in St Michel railway station I
spotted a pickpocket at work.

A couple of asian tourists were going down stairs looking at direction
signs. The young thief walked down just behind them. The man had a
sort of box like bag with a strap slung over the shoulder. It was
hanging near his hip a little behind. While the couple was going down
and the box was jerked the thief started to search the box in find of
valuable, his foray lost in the general movement.

We, with a passerby, spotted him at the same time and stopped him. We
asked the couple to check their valuables and since everything was OK
and the thief was a minor we let him loose.

So when visiting touristic places (everywhere in the world) just
remember to keep watchful and not to have open bags, wallets in the
back pocket of your pants... Be careful of children if they seem out
of place (late at night, in small groups with no school bag...).
Nothing to be afraid of but it is a noisance.

We, with a passerby, spotted him at the same time and stopped him. We
asked the couple to check their valuables and since everything was OK
and the thief was a minor we let him loose.

The other important issue here, aside from being careful, is what to do when
you actually spot a pickpocket in question. In this particular case, the
perpetrator was a minor and I would imagine fairly easy to handle. What if
he were a linebacker type that could not easily be controlled and could
possibly be prone to violence. What would your recourse be in that case? The
reason I ask is because of an incident in Sacre Cour in Paris while riding
that funicular. A pickpocket was actually trying to steal something from a
tourist's backpack and he was caught red-handed by the victim's body. The
funny thing is that the pickpocket didn't act like he was scared at all
about being caught red-handed. He pretended like nothing happened and like
he was just going about his business. One of the victim's buddies tried
talking to him but the pickpocket pretended that he didn't even exist. As
soon as the funicular reached the top, the pickpocket just walked away
casually and the victim and his friend were wise enough not to pursue the
guy.

In short, these pickpockets have become so daring that they're not even
afraid of getting caught. Also, once you catch them, they're not just gonna
stand around while you call the cops. If you try to physically restrain
them, some violence may result. Therein lies the quandary.

punktilious writes:

The other important issue here, aside from being careful, is what to do when
you actually spot a pickpocket in question. In this particular case, the
perpetrator was a minor and I would imagine fairly easy to handle. What if
he were a linebacker type that could not easily be controlled and could
possibly be prone to violence.

Pickpockets are almost always wimps. If they could strongarm people
into giving them money, they would.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Following up to punktilious

In short, these pickpockets have become so daring that they're not even
afraid of getting caught. Also, once you catch them, they're not just gonna
stand around while you call the cops. If you try to physically restrain
them, some violence may result. Therein lies the quandary.

Yes, it isn't like in films, a friend chased a pickpocket (he is
a club runner) he found himself running deep into the back
streets, towards the thieves friends? Thieves often, maybe nearly
always, have knives.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to Mxsmanic

Pickpockets are almost always wimps. If they could strongarm people
into giving them money, they would.

I saw a waiter in Madrid chase and corner a bag snatcher, he
pulled a knife. never saw how it ended, hopefully the police
arrived, for all I know the "waiter" was an accomplice. Remember
thieves sometimes work in pairs, one takes the wallet and passes
it on. You don't know your enemies' strength when you confront
one man.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
punktilious writes:

The other important issue here, aside from being careful, is what to do
when
you actually spot a pickpocket in question. In this particular case, the
perpetrator was a minor and I would imagine fairly easy to handle. What
if
he were a linebacker type that could not easily be controlled and could
possibly be prone to violence.

Pickpockets are almost always wimps. If they could strongarm people
into giving them money, they would.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

The key words here are "almost always wimps". Would one be willing to risk
life and limb based on that assumption? It's that 1% exception that's the
killer. I don't think it would be any fun spending time in a hospital,
especially in a foreign country.

In article , punktilious
wrote:

In short, these pickpockets have become so daring that they're not even
afraid of getting caught. Also, once you catch them, they're not just gonna
stand around while you call the cops. If you try to physically restrain
them, some violence may result. Therein lies the quandary.


Are you gonna stay around and testify anyway ? That is why tourists
are so appealing as marks .

Rome has recently paid for a few American victims to return to Italy to
testify.

jay
Mon Apr 25, 2005

punktilious writes:

The key words here are "almost always wimps". Would one be willing to risk
life and limb based on that assumption?

They are more likely to be wimps than you are. That's why they resort
to sleight-of-hand crimes like pickpocketing. If they were physically
formidable with the same weak ethics, they could just mug you or rip
your bag from you instead.

I don't think it would be any fun spending time in a hospital,
especially in a foreign country.

Pickpockets feel the same way.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.