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A new twist (to me) on pickpocketing on the Paris Metro

I am on my way to work (on the line 1) and just saw something rather extraordinary.

We were stopped at Nation when a plainclothes policeman hustled a young man in handcuffs up against the open doors. Then the policeman yelled down the car, "There's a woman who just had her cell phone stolen" -- and here he thrust the phone into the air -- "a woman with a small backpack who had her cell phone stolen" and asked if she could please come get it.

The police had obviously seen the pickpocket in action, while the woman wasn't even yet aware that her cell phone had been stolen!

It took everybody a minute to figure out what was going on (since the policeman were in plain clothes dressed like anyone going around Paris for the day), and the policeman with the suspect had to yell down the car a couple more times.

The woman's husband or partner finally came down to where the policeman was holding the suspect against the doors, which were still forced open. The man clearly wanted the policeman just to give him the phone, but the police insisted that he and his wife get off the train (as obviously they wanted them to press charges for theft). The guy and his wife finally got off, but they (non-French speakers, maybe Italian or Spanish or Portuguese) explained to the police that they were literally on their way to the airport and didn't have time to stop.

Meanwhile the RATP "driver" back in the command center (remember, this is the line 1, which has remote drivers) was asking the people holding the doors to stop holding up the train; it took them a while too to understand it was the police. And they admonished the officers for having blocked the doors without telling them. Finally we the passengers had to advise the RATP center that the police, suspect, and victims had moved away from the doors onto the platform, and that the remote center could close the doors and let us on our way.

All of this at 8:45 in the morning!!!

Posted by
14752 posts

My word Kim! What a start to your day!

Very interesting about the plainclothes officers. So, do you think they were on the train waiting for a pickpocketing OR do you think they were on their way somewhere else and just happened to see this go down?

Also...interesting about the RATP center vs open door vs police. It seems like there should be some sort of code officials could activate in an instance such as this.

Posted by
6713 posts

When I started reading I thought this would be about a scam where people pretend to be police and suspects, to help separate passengers from their belongings somehow. But instead it's about police actually taking action against pickpocketing on the Metro -- very encouraging! I can imagine how frustrating it must be for officers to nail a thief and find that the victim can't stick around to press charges. This is the flip side of tourists complaining about police inaction against thieves. Thank you for sharing this encouraging, yet somewhat discouraging, and certainly entertaining story. I hope everyone got to work on time (except the thief).

Posted by
11294 posts

"I can imagine how frustrating it must be for officers to nail a thief and find that the victim can't stick around to press charges. This is the flip side of tourists complaining about police inaction against thieves."

Very true, and a good rejoinder when visitors say things like "they're not even trying to stop all the pickpocketing!!!!!"

Posted by
7952 posts

Bravo for the police on the Metro! Theft inconveniences a lot of people in a lot of ways, but sounds like this all went for the best, in the end.

There’s been a lot of reports of more and more thefts going on here in Colorado, sometimes nasty people taking from those who can maybe least afford to lose the things. It’s disheartening, but your posting,Kim, was good to read - thank you!

Posted by
4103 posts

Thanks for reporting this Kim! I’m sure I wouldn’t have figured our half of what was happening if I’d witnessed this.

Last night our granddaughters called to say they were on a Metro where their door wouldn’t open at the stop where they needed to get off. Other people were around them trying to open the door too. They had to go on to the next stop and work themselves back. All I could think of was that I hoped this wasn’t a diversion tactic but they came back to the hotel with phones and no money, in their case they’d spent it all 🙂.

Posted by
10214 posts

I can imagine how frustrating it must be for officers to nail a thief and find that the victim can't stick around to press charges. This is the flip side of tourists complaining about police inaction against thieves.

Indeed, that struck me too. I see so many teams of the underage kids, whom we know the police can't hold for more than a few hours as they are minors. Here was a man in his 20s or 30s, who could have been booked and charged — but the victims had a flight to catch.

we always here too about how good the pickpockets are, that you won't know anything has happened to you until later. That was clearly the case here, as the police had to try several times to alert the couple that the woman's phone had been stolen.

As the train pulled out of the station, I got a photo of the couple, but the police were not visible behind part of the train. I really wanted to get a picture of the cops as I found their undercover wear so convincing!!!

Posted by
14752 posts

"I really wanted to get a picture of the cops as I found their undercover wear so convincing!!!"

Well, now you DO have to share what they were wearing, lol!

Posted by
7952 posts

Hi Pam - maybe Kim can confirm this, but I wonder if the undercover police were wearing white tennis shoes, waist packs (or money belts) outside their clothing, and maybe baggy shorts and a big red baseball cap?

Posted by
1321 posts

Thanks, Kim, for this report.
Like Dick, I first thought that this might be a diversion while the pickpocket's cohorts robbed everyone else on the metro.
Last year I was on the funicular on Montmartre when a young woman started accusing a man of trying to steal from the older woman he was standing next to. He denied it, then apologized profusely... it was quite the dramatic show. It was only later in the day that it occurred to me that this might have been an effective diversion that could be repeated many times since the funicular is mostly full of tourists. I didn't lose anything (I have a Travelon crossbody bag with locking zippers that I keep close) but I wonder if others did.

Posted by
14752 posts

CYN!!! LOL! We must be sharing a brain today because that was just what I was thinking...

Posted by
10214 posts

Hi Pam - maybe Kim can confirm this, but I wonder if the undercover police were wearing white tennis shoes, waist packs (or money belts) outside their clothing, and maybe baggy shorts and a big red baseball cap?

That would be really good — but no, he was wearing jeans and some sort of dark shirt, and I remember noticing most that he was wearing some kind of black baseball cap — where his ponytail was sticking out — and a black backpack. I never really got a good look at the second policeman but in a split second got the idea he was dressed equally casually.

The thief, meanwhile, was wearing a green t-shirt and jeans.

I remember the fellow who tried to pickpocket my mom one time on the Line 1 was wearing a suit!!!

Posted by
12315 posts

I saw a guy getting hustled by police pretty badly up near the entrance to Sacre Coeur. Since there was obviously a lot of scamming going on at the bottom of the hill, I figured the police must draw the line near the Basilica?

Posted by
9436 posts

Wow! What an amazing event. Sure woke everyone up! I’m so glad to hear there are some undercover cops on the mêtro. That woman was very lucky to get her phone back. Thanks for sharing this Kim - Wow!