A thief’s brazen ploy to steal a wallet and passport right from under the nose of an unsuspecting Vancouver store clerk was caught on video.
Now the victim and the store, Drones Plus on 4th Avenue in Vancouver, are sharing the video in the hopes that the man can be recognized and caught – or at least that he’ll return the stolen goods.
“It’s just so blatant,” the clerk, Yabsera Aklilu told CTV News. “You look into my wallet, you steal it. That’s messed up. Please return my passport. You can take anything else. I just want my passport.”
On the video the man can be seen coming into the store while Aklilu is closing up the shop. He asks for help to use a phone because he had locked himself out of his car, and Aklilu dials a number he provides.
“I assumed he wanted to buy a product. I handed him the phone,” she said.
But while she is distracted, he slowly moves his hand over to the wallet, checks it for its contents, and slips it into his pocket.
“He was weird. He was kind of sketchy. I had a feeling but I thought, whatever, he needs help. Then I couldn’t find my wallet. I honestly thought I had misplaced it,” she said.
She checked the surveillance video and then called the police.
It’s particularly difficult for Aklilu because she’s an Ethiopian citizen and her Canadian visa was contained in that passport.
She says it’s going to be a lengthy and difficult process to do all the paperwork to replace both documents.
Aklilu says she’s been in Canada for 6 years and this is the first time something like this has happened.
“I’ve lost my wallet before but it’s always been returned to me. I’ve been here for so long and nothing like that has ever happened to me. It’s such a safe city.”
