Street thief who used dance moves to pickpocket victims is arrested

A street thief caught on CCTV using bizarre dance moves to pickpocket his victims has been jailed.

Anis Bardich, 27, was caught on camera busting the unusual moves to distract his targets in Birmingham.

A court heard he preyed on four people in the city centre people between July and August last year 

Police said Bardich would distract victims by trying to dance and moving in front of them to confuse them. 

While he did this, he would simultaneously take their wallets or mobile phones from their pockets without their knowledge.

The victims’ bank cards were later used in shops before he was traced down by cops using facial recognition technology.

West Midlands Police officers from Operation Taurus trawled through CCTV after recognising a pattern in the series of thefts.

Bardich was later convicted of four counts of theft and four counts of fraud by false representation.

He was jailed for 24 weeks and ordered to pay £2,240 in compensation to the people he stole from at Birmingham Magistrates Court on March 27.

PC Amy O’Connor, from Operation Taurus, said afterwards: ““As you can see from the video clip, pickpockets adopt various tricks and tactics to steal people’s property.

“I would encourage everyone to be on the lookout for these techniques so that they can keep their belongings safe”

A force spokesperson added: “Pickpocketing has a lasting impact on those targeted and we’ll always seek to identify those involved.”