Maybe the most unusual, and limber, story of a thief: A contortionist in Spain is arrested after curling himself into a ball, into a suitcase--then into an airport bus cargo bay, to steal from tourists' luggage.
When traveling abroad, it's always wise to keep purses, laptop and over-the-shoulder bags in front of you rather than behind -- especially on the street and on public transportation. Thieves are known to steal cameras and wallets literally right out from under you: with one, quick blade slice robbers have fast access to the bottom of your bag -- allowing a thief to drop your goodies straight out of the bottom of the bag rather than up and out. The short story: it's all so fast and smooth, you'll never know you've been ripped off.
Similarly abroad, frequent travelers know that -- especially on trains and at night -- literally sleeping on your bags is the way to go. Nighttime trains are one of the most targeted for travelers and the thieves looking to rob. With your own body weight across your cases, any weight shift serves as the alert that someone's trying to lift your luggage.
And so it goes, that a street thief in Spain came up with a rather ingenious plan.
At 5' 10", he's no elf. But this guy's got a new take on thievery, with twists, bends and contortions to rival Houdini -- and he's been working with just one other guy in targeting public transportation and new airport arrivals. One accomplice would help fold and place a guy, who literally doubles as a contortionist, inside of a large piece of luggage. That suitcase would then be loaded into the cargo bay on a bus -- a bus running directly from the airport in Girona to the city of Barcelona, south from the airport.
After helping his buddy into the suitcase and making sure he was loaded into the same spot as travelers' suitcases, the accomplice thief would board the bus with airport passengers -- then pick up his buddy at the end of the line.
Over the duration of the 60-mile bus ride, the contortionist thief would slip out of the suitcase where he'd been folded, then use a sharp object to pick luggage locks or open zippers--and successfully rip off passengers via secluded access to their suitcases. Laptops and jewelry were reported missing.
The thieves didn't get caught for awhile, their scheme working perfectly. Bus passengers complained items had been stolen from their baggage. The tourists couldn't figure out what was happening and neither could police, since the theft victims would report missing items once at their hotel -- when they first noticed things missing.
It all went bust when the contortionist's thieving accomplice didn't throw him under the bus -- but he did leave him there. the partner in crime refusing to pick up the suitcase carrying his comrade. The cause of the tiff is unclear, but the contortionist got left beneath the bus. Cops opened up a suspicious case -- to discover the thief clutching a tool to break zippers, holding a cell phone and wearing a head lantern.