Video shows pickpocket using tongs to steal woman's mobile phone on pedestrian crossing in St Petersburg, Russia

The incident occurred at a busy pedestrian crossing on Bolshevikov Avenue in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on September 28. Police footage shows a crowded pedestrian crossing. A man with a black bag pretends to be looking for something in the bag as he approaches an unsuspecting girl walking in front.

Then the man brings the black bag very close to the girl and the tongs sticking out of the edge of the bag with the phone in the girl's pocket can be clearly seen. At this moment, the police officer says to his colleague chasing the pickpocket: "He stole the phone, take him!"

The next part of the video shows the detained thief with the stolen phone and his tongs.

The images were obtained from the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, along with a statement saying: "Operatives of the 'pickpocket' department of the criminal investigation department of the Main Directorate caught a seasoned pickpocket red-handed on Bolshevikov Avenue.

"During the implementation of a set of operational search measures, employees of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Directorate detained a 51-year-old resident of the Primorsky District, who pulled a smartphone out of the jacket pocket of a 43-year-old woman.

"The crime occurred right before the eyes of the operatives near house 1 on Bolshevikov Avenue. A black plastic bag, one movement of the clamp and the victim's mobile phone worth 16,100 rubles (£130) ends up in the hands of the artful dodger.

"The detainee is already well known to the operatives: they detained him a couple of years ago on Iskrovskiy Avenue for stealing cash from the trouser pocket of a second-year student.

"The police investigation into the theft of the gadget has opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (theft). The suspect was detained under Article 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation."

Story: NewsX