A crazy event in Nottingham showed a robber using weird dance moves to completely distract a victim while stealing his cell phone. This made police warn everyone to “be vigilant” against this sneaky trick. This wasn’t just some random quick grab. This was a planned street robbery that used a very strange performance as cover.
According to The Sun, security camera footage caught the entire bold theft, showing exactly how the thief worked. The suspect walked up to his target while pretending to be really drunk and started the meeting with a friendly fist bump. That’s already a weird move for a drunk stranger, but what happened next was even stranger. The thief did an unusual routine that involved placing his leg right between the victim’s legs and starting to jump up and down.
This is terrible for the victim because the distraction worked perfectly. While the target was confused and likely trying to figure out what was happening, the suspect quickly took the phone from the man’s pocket, hid it behind his back, and walked away without being noticed.
Police are hunting for the dancing thief
Nottinghamshire Police are now actively looking for the suspect. Inspector Paul Gummer, who is part of the city center neighborhood 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.”
Officers looked at the restaurant’s security cameras and were able to get a “clear image of the person responsible for this distraction theft,” according to Gummer. He noted that the man “does not appear to be drunk on the McDonald’s security cameras just minutes before the theft but gave that impression when he was with the victim.”
A Nottingham street thief was caught on CCTV using a bizarre dance to distract a victim before stealing his mobile phone.
— The Independent (@Independent) November 24, 2025
The pickpocket approached a man in Clumber Street just after 7:30am on 16 November.
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The police believe he pretended to be drunk as part of a “trick to fool the victim into thinking he was no threat and was being friendly.” Police have been dealing with many unusual cases lately, including a woman living in a store sign for an entire year.
It’s really frustrating that people use such manipulative tricks, and Inspector Gummer confirmed that similar distraction thefts have shown up across the country. Gummer revealed that some thieves try to defend their actions by claiming their unusual moves are a “traditional cultural dance from their country.”
That excuse is complete garbage, and Gummer didn’t hold back when talking about it. He made a strong statement, saying, “To be clear – it is absolutely not a cultural dance – it’s a mean attempt to distract attention away from the victim’s pockets, where the pickpocketing is happening.” Wild accusations aren’t uncommon these days, as seen when a Karen falsely accused someone of hit-and-run despite having no evidence.
You really need to watch your belongings, especially as we head into the time of year when everyone is out celebrating. Gummer asks the public to “be vigilant against this bold crime, avoid it happening to you and watch out for it happening to anyone else, particularly those who may be ‘slightly too merry’ to recognize what’s happening to them during this festive period.”
