How to Trap (and Humiliate) a Thief

By Alex in Crime & Law, Video Clips on Jan 7, 2008 at 7:40 pm

A while ago, British TV show Swag (by Madonna’s hubbie Guy Ritchie, btw) staged a trap for would-be thieves. They parked a cargo truck with its door open, revealing a tempting assortment of goodies inside. When the bandit went in for a quick steal, they closed the door and unravelled the cargo truck’s covering to reveal a mobile cage!

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks wade7!

Here’s another example: Thief trapped behind a security glass door after attempting to steal toilet paper in Redfern, Australia.

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Damien
Jan 7th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Excellent!
Pudifoot
Jan 7th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
is that entrapment?
roger
Jan 7th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
How can that possibly be legal anywhere?
Christophe
Jan 8th, 2008 at 12:42 am
hey roger, is it legal to steal stuff from the truck? he started it!!!

but you’re right I think they had somehow to exchange a disclaimer with thief charges dropping.
good legal case if the guy does not want it : you’re going to prison for stealing, but with wads of cash for kidnapping, humiliation and whatnot… I guess you have to think about it. what’s the ROI?
Alex
Jan 8th, 2008 at 1:15 am
My initial reaction was “Bwahahahaha! Suck it, thief!”

Then I thought “Hm, if he is a criminal, what are the chances he’d have a gun or something?”

@Roger, re: entrapment – don’t police do it all the time? They just call it a “sting operation”.
Tyler
Jan 8th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Were these people the police?

No, they were a television show and they paraded this man around a city.
roger
Jan 8th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Alex: I didn’t use the word entrapment, which means something completely different, not “trapping somebody” . I also wondered what would happen if the guy had a gun – could have been a real public danger.

Christophe: I know the guy started it, and the video is a very funny just reward. It just seems blatantly illegal to kidnap someone, criminal or not. There must be some legal loophole that allows them to do this, like a citizen’s arrest. Even so, I would think doing so exposes the producers to legal liabilities which far outweigh the ROI from one prank.

There must be some more background on this out there somewhere…
TheSquid
Jan 8th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I believe its called a citizens arrest. Its the same law that allows a store security guard to detain a shop keeper till the cops arrive. Also this may well be staged.
TheSquid
Jan 8th, 2008 at 10:58 am
shop lifter not shop keeper
Alex
Jan 8th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Well… given that this was a TV show, maybe it was staged…
Nicholas Dollak
Jan 8th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
The legality of it all is certainly questionable. However, the first thing that crossed my mind upon reading this was the Child Catcher from the movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”…
Crudely Wrott
Jan 8th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
The video is “no longer available” and YouTube says, “We’re sorry.”

Some legal complication, perhaps?
Nora
Jan 8th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Theres another version of the same clip at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB8fTIsIG6Q
Quality isn’t great though, but at least you can get the idea.

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