Stuffed thieves come to the rescue and then steal jewelry: “New method in Kortrijk and surroundings”

“I suddenly felt something on my head when I was waiting at the pharmacy”, a victim begins her story. “I thought it was bird shit. Immediately a gentleman with a handkerchief came up to me to wipe my coat.”

A friendly gesture you would think, until the woman also notices that her necklace has been stolen. “I thanked that man, he will think: ‘what a stupid woman’,” says the 80-year-old victim.

Also other police zones

The facts happened at a quarter to ten on Sunday morning in the center of Aalbeke. The woman has not only lost her confidence, the necklace has an emotional value. “I got it as a gift from my husband when I was twenty. Now I’ve lost it.”

The perpetrator spoke French. The woman estimates that he is about 35 years old. An elderly lady also became a victim in the Tolstraat near the station in Kortrijk. “It is a new modus operandi. In the past, for example, people asked for directions and gave a hug as a thank you and in the meantime people stole jewelry, now a liquid substance is used to make the garment dirty. To rub off the dirt afterwards”, explains Thomas Detavernier of police zone Vlas.

Similar reports are also popping up in other police zones.