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Thieves Pull Off Incredibly Sneaky Car Theft Right Under Victim’s Nose

Thieves Pull Off Incredibly Sneaky Car Theft Right Under Victim’s Nose

Police are now hunting for at least three people in relation to the theft

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A group of car thieves carried out a brazen distraction robbery in the middle of the day. Watch footage of the theft below:

Police in New Orleans have shared CCTV footage from a petrol station that shows the sneaky car theft as it happened.

In the clip, the victim can be seen standing, filling up his white Honda Accord, which had been left running.

A Lexus then arrives - one man gets out of the passenger's side and approaches the victim.

New Orleans Police Department
New Orleans Police Department

He appears to engage the fella in conversation - seemingly as a way to distract him - while his accomplice sneaks out of the passenger's side and scampers over to the Honda unseen.

He hops into the car, closes the door after him and drives off.

Meanwhile, the man who acted as the distraction nips back over to the Lexus, gets in and the car drives away, following closely behind the stolen Honda.

These guys aren't the only bold as brass car thieves we've seen in recent months.

Over on this side of the pond, a man who was trying to flog his car online had it stolen by a thief posing as a prospective buyer - who then tried to charge him £500 to return it.

Jake Bateson, 27, from Moseley, posted his KIA Rio on Autotrader, but had it nicked by a man pretending to be an interested buyer who wanted to take it on a test drive.

The thief then 'floored the car with the door open' outside his house.

Jack then received a message demanding £500 for the location of the car - a blackmail attempt he passed onto police.

Birmingham Live

Bateson told Birmingham Live: "I feel quite shocked and shaken. We were taken advantage of.

"You do it all in good faith and don't want to be cynical about people spinning you a web of lies.

"Perhaps I should have asked to see his driving licence at the start - but that just feels like an unnatural thing to do."

He said a vehicle recovery company said his car was found days later, 'completely battered, unusable and on false plates', in nearby Sparkbrook.

Featured Image Credit: New Orleans Police Department

Topics: US News, crime