Thief tries to distract victim with ‘traditional cultural’ dance as he rifles through pockets

This is the moment a sneaky thief winds his leg around his victim and performs a ‘bizarre dance’ to snatch his phone.

CCTV appears to show the pickpocket pretending to be drunk to fool his victim into thinking he was simply in a cheerful mood.

A brief video clip issued by Nottinghamshire Police on Monday shows the man approach a victim in Clumber Street, in the city centre, shortly after 7.30am on November 16.

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.

‘The matter was reported to Nottinghamshire Police and today we are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man we would like to trace.’

Inspector Paul Gummer, of the City Centre neighbourhood policing team, said: ‘Officers were able to trace the offender’s prior movement to a McDonald’s.

‘We therefore examined CCTV from the nearby branch and were able to obtain a clear image of the person responsible for this distraction theft. If you know who he is, please get in touch with us.

‘He does not appear to be intoxicated on the McDonald’s CCTV just minutes before the theft, but gave that impression when he was with the victim. We therefore believe he pretended to be intoxicated as part of a ploy to trick the victim into thinking he posed no threat and was being jovial.’

The inspector said 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.

‘I would therefore encourage the public to be vigilant against this brazen crime, avoid it happening to you and 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,’ he said.