A Would-Be Thief Got Stuck In The Car He Was Trying To Steal, So He Called The Cops To Get Him Out

A would-be car thief was thwarted when he found himself locked in the car he was trying to steal, the Guardian is reporting. Lacking any better options, he called the cops.

Police in the Norwegian city of Trondheim say the 17-year-old would-be thief was known to them, having already racked up a lengthy rap sheet of petty crimes, including multiple other attempts at car theft. He had also developed a reputation for being a rather dim-witted car thief (police spokesperson Ebbe Kimo politely called him “perhaps not the most knowledgeable car thief”), who often fails to think things through. For example, his attempted Christmas Eve car theft not only resulted in him being locked in a car, but it also took place about three blocks from a prison.

The unnamed juvenile allegedly tried to break into a car on the lot of a Volvo dealership and managed to get inside and try to drive it off. Unfortunately, the car had a safety-locking mechanism that automatically locked all the doors, trapping the young man inside. Unable to figure out how to get out, the juvenile figured he had no better option to call the police, says Kimo.

“He called us just before 8am on Christmas Eve from inside the car he had just broken into.”

Kimo says that the juvenile and the Trondheim police were so familiar with each other that the thief probably figured that calling the cops was no different than calling an old buddy.

“He couldn’t open the doors. He knows us quite well and clearly thought it would be OK to call us for help. A bit like calling a friend, really. He sounded quite stressed and desperate when he called us, and I think he was relieved when we arrived.”

Kimo also joked that this attempted theft was likely a high-water mark in the juvenile’s career.

“On his previous attempts, he was at least able to get out of the car.”

Once police freed the young man from his ersatz prison, he was released to his family, where cops say they hope he was met with a “hopefully warm Christmas celebration.”

Norway has one of the lowest crime rates not only in Europe but in the entire world, according to the Nordic Page. So rare is crime in Norway that, just days ago, a bank robber tried to rob a bank in the Arctic Circle city of Longyearbyen, the first bank robbery in the city’s history. The robber was unarmed.