Australian Thief Caught On Camera Using Fishing Pole, Line To Reel in $700 Gold Necklace From Mannequin
Police in Australia are on the lookout for an enterprising thief who was caught on camera using a fishing pole, line, and hook to steal a gold necklace from a mannequin, CBS News reports. The incident happened over a week ago, but police are just now asking for the general public’s help in tracking down the urban angler.
According to a dispatch from Victoria police, on Monday of last week an unidentified man showed up at a high-end fashion store on Melbourne‘s Little Collins Street, armed with just a fishing pole.
Even though this crime took place in a major city, the caper happened at about 2:00 a.m. on an isolated side street, and the crook was effectively left alone for hours. That gave him plenty of time to stick the pole into a hole he’d broken through the front door, and then attempt to reel in his quarry — a $700 gold Versace necklace worn by a mannequin.
In the video of the incident, posted below, the man takes breaks to furtively look around, making sure nobody can see him as he re-evaluates his plan. It seems that using a fishing pole to secure a necklace from the back of a mannequin is actually a rather tricky consideration, and it took the man several hours to pull the bling off its showpiece. During his attempt, the thief left the scene only to return later armed with a bigger pole.
WATCH: Security footage shows a man using a fishing rod to remove a Versace necklace from a mannequin within the store just after 2am. pic.twitter.com/9S103jZjv4
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) March 3, 2020
Eventually, the man was able to depart the scene of the crime with his stolen loot.
Victoria Police Senior Constable Bede Whitty said that using a fishing pole to steal from a store is a “bold” crime.
“It’s fairly blatant and it’s quite bold as well, to have someone attend with a fishing rod in the middle of the night,” Whitty said.
And though the thief was captured on video surveillance cameras, police still have no idea who he is. Police describe the thief as a white male, about 5-foot, 10-inches tall, with short, receding hair. His age range is between 40 and 50 years old.
As it turns out, this isn’t the first time a thief has used — or has attempted to use — fishing equipment to carry out a caper.
As The Evening Standard reported at the time, back in November 2019 a thief in England used a rod & reel to steal several garments from a store, carefully latching them with a hook, reeling them to the door, and then pulling them out through the mailbox. The thief got away with £3,000 ($3,844) worth of merchandise.
