Phone Thief Arrested after Live Streaming His Face to Thousands
- An Egyptian journalist’s phone was snatched by a thief on a motorbike while reporting
- Unknown to the thief, the phone was live streaming, and his face was seen by thousands
- Authorities traced and arrested him, and he confessed to the crime
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It seems motorcycle thieves grabbing phones from unsuspecting victims is not unique to Kenya.
Source: UGC
A thief has been arrested after broadcasting himself live with a phone he had stolen.
BBC reports that the man unknowingly showed his face to thousands on Tuesday, October 19, after snatching a journalist’s phone while live streaming.
The thief, on a mortorbike, was seen casually smoking a cigarette as he sped away with the phone belonging to Mahmoud Ragheb.
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According to Ragheb's employer, Youm7, the incident happened on a bridge in Shubra Al-Khaimah, the country’s fourth-largest city.
Snatch, arrest
Ragheb was reporting on the effects of an earthquake when the unnamed thief snatched the phone.
When the camera stopped shaking, it showed the thief’s face as he rode away with a cigarette in his mouth.
When the theft occurred, more than 20,000 Facebook were live-streaming it, and it has since garnered over 7.2 million views and 47,000 comments.
The video was widely shared, and authorities managed to track down the thief. Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior announced that the man was apprehended hours later at his home.
He confessed to his crimes while in police custody.
Reactions
Netizens reacted to the video by stating:
Sameh Safwa:
“Thank God the motorcycle will return to its owners.”
Saeid Kamal:
“The important thing is that he was arrested. Very many people have been stolen from in this manner.”
Shimaa Abdelazez:
“Oh, oh, you're live!”
Gogo Badr:
“This is a thief who has skills. He can ride, smoke cigarettes and steal phones.”
Yoh: Zahara issued with warrant of arrest for dodging the taxman
In other news, Briefly News reported that Zahara is reported to be staring jail time in the face after running away from the taxman for far too long. The singer failed to show up to her court hearing last Friday so the magistrate stuck her with an arrest warrant. Zahara is yet to make arrangements to pay what she owes.
The National Prosecution Authority confirmed that the singer was charged for outstanding tax returns in both personal and business affairs. Zahara was set to appear in court and was not permitted to travel outside of the country.
Source: Briefly News
Stefan Mack (Editor) Stefan Mack is an English and history teacher who has broadened his horizons with journalism. He enjoys experiencing the human condition through the world's media. Stefan keeps Briefly News' readers entertained during the weekend. He graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010 with a Bachelor of Education (BEd), majoring in History and English. Stefan has been writing for Briefly News for a number of years and has covered mainstream to human interest articles.
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
