Police are hunting for a man who used a “bizarre dance” to distract his victim and steal his mobile phone.
Officers in Nottingham have issued an appeal and released footage of the pickpocket, who they believe pretended to be drunk to fool his victim into thinking he was harmless.
A brief video clip issued by Nottinghamshire Police on Monday shows the man approach a victim in Clumber Street, in Nottingham city centre, shortly after 7.30am on 16 November.
The force said in a statement describing the incident: “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.”
Officers were able to use CCTV to track the offender’s prior movement to a McDonald’s.
Police said the suspect did not appear to be intoxicated in CCTV footage from the McDonald’s restaurant, recorded just minutes before the theft took place.
They added that this indicated that “he pretended to be intoxicated as part of a ploy to trick the victim into thinking he posed no threat and was being jovial”.
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A clear image of the person responsible for this distraction theft has now been released, and police are urging people to contact them if they know who he is.
Inspector Paul Gummer, of the City Centre neighbourhood policing team, warned people to remain vigilant.
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He added that it was common for such offenders to claim they were performing a traditional cultural dance, while in fact making a cynical attempt to distract attention away from a victim’s pockets.
He went on to say that people should “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”.
