The Dumbest Thief In Egypt Has Been Arrested After Stealing A Journalist’s Phone During A Livestream
An Egyptian man has been taken into police custody after stealing a journalist’s phone from his hands during a live broadcast.
Mahmoud Ragheb, a reporter for the news site Youm7, was recording the aftermath of an earthquake live from Cairo when a motorbike rider sped past and snatched his phone.
Little did the criminal know, he broadcast his face to more than 20,000 people on social media as he was smoking his cigarette while riding.
الداخلية تنجح فى القبض على المتهم بسرقة هاتف صحفى اليوم السابع.. الوزارة توضح: عاطل مقيم فى قليوب.. واعترف بارتكاب الواقعة وأرشد عن مكان التليفون المحمول.. واليوم السابع تشكر أجهزة الأمن لسرعة ضبط المتهمhttps://t.co/Ye2ihCqAiJ pic.twitter.com/m2M3CWNOX5
— اليوم السابع (@youm7) October 19, 2021
Many people joined the search for the man as the camera was left recording and the footage quickly made rounds on the internet.
Egyptian authorities said they used “modern technology” to identify the thief, according to the news site.
The criminal was arrested a few hours later at his home and taken to the Qalyub police station where he is said to have confessed the theft.
In just a matter of 24 hours, the video was seen more than 6.2. million times.
According to press reports, the incident took place on a bridge in Shubra Al-Khaimah, Egypt’s fourth-largest city.
People online didn’t hesitate to make fun of the incompetent thief, with one person saying he had “died from laughter”, while another questioned why he had even bothered looking behind him while “the whole world is watching you”.
#اليوم_السابع
مراسل اليوم السابع كان طالع لايف يتكلم عن الزلازل التليفون اتسرق منه والواد اللي سرقه كمل اللايف 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZAyHXN53z6— Yasmin Mahmoud (@M49828376Yasmin) October 19, 2021
Egypt’s ministry of interior made a statement saying that the thief was unemployed and that he has since sold the phone to someone else.
According to reports, an earthquake measured by the United States Geological Survey as a magnitude of 6.0, struck off the Greek island of Karpathos last Tuesday and was felt in neighboring countries, including Egypt.
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