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A gang of suspected pickpockets have been arrested in central London in front of shocked tourists.
Officers descended on Oxford Street to catch three women suspected of reaching into pedestrians’ bags and snatching their belongings.
Footage shows one woman handcuffed with multiple police around, while another lies on the ground having an apparent seizure.
Elena Venkova, 33, Malinka Georgieva, 20, and Elena Mitkova, 26, were all arrested and charged with theft.
They were due to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Paul Brown, who captured the footage, told Metro: ‘There was a sudden commotion which caught everyone’s attention.
‘A group of police officers rushed towards three women near the entrance of Selfridges, and within moments, it became clear they were being arrested for suspected pickpocketing.
London’s pickpocketing epidemic
Between March 2023 and 2024, the Metropolitan Police received more than 79,000 reports of pickpockets.
Some 28,155 were reported in Westminster, with one in seven people in the area having something – mainly mobile phones – stolen from them.
This marks a 712% increase in the area from three years ago, and is by far the highest rate of thefts across the capital.
Other areas are also seeing huge increases in reported incidents, including Kensington and Chelsea seeing a 426% rise on three years ago.
Lambeth has also increased by 280%, the City of London by 266% and Greenwich by 245%.
‘People stopped in their tracks and there was a noticeable tension in the air, and the area quickly filled with more police.’
But as one of the women was arrested, she appears to fall into a seizure as officers tried to tend to her.
‘The whole incident caused a brief disruption, with traffic slowing and shoppers gathering to see what was happening,’ Paul said.
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‘It all happened fast, but it left quite an impression—especially with how quickly the police responded.’
The arrests come as the rate of theft in London soars by more than 700% in the capital from three years ago.
London areas with the highest rate of pickpocketing:
- Westminster – 133.21 per 1,000 residents
- Camden – 31.41 per 1,000 residents
- Southwark – 19.03 per 1,000 residents
- Kensington and Chelsea – 18.86 per 1,000 residents
- Hackney – 14.67 per 1,000 residents
- Islington – 12.8 per 1,000 residents
- Lambeth – 10.87 per 1,000 residents
- Newham – 10.65 per 1,000 residents
- Tower Hamlets – 9.23 per 1,000 residents
- Haringey – 9.04 per 1,000 residents
The Metropolitan Police said: ‘At 17:45hrs on Wednesday, 27 August plain-clothed officers on patrol on Oxford Street arrested three women on suspicion of theft.
‘Elena Venkova, 33, was arrested and charged with theft on Thursday, 28 August.
‘Elena Mitkova, 26, was arrested and charged with theft and possession of criminal property on Thursday, 28 August.
‘Malinka Georgieva, 20, was arrested and charged with theft on Thursday, 28 August.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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