A suspected pickpocket was held to the ground by a group of tourists on Thursday near Venice's iconic Rialto Bridge. The man is accused of stealing a wallet from an East Asian group.
Video footage captured the incident, showing two men, aided by other tourists, restraining the suspect on the pavement. They turned him over and held his arms behind his back while bystanders searched his pockets as police approached.
The man is reportedly a known figure in the area for pickpocketing and has been reported multiple times. Monica Poli, a city councilor and anti-pickpocket activist, arrived at the scene and helped the man up after he asked for assistance. She stated, "We know him, we call the police," as those holding him down reported that one of their wallets was in his possession.
Poli told Corriere that she heard screams and rushed to the scene. She noted that the tourists, likely Korean, had difficulty communicating due to a language barrier. "My regret is thinking about how many times I reported that man," she said, recalling a newspaper article from ten years prior detailing his involvement in a prosecutor's investigation. "Today I find him in Rialto, it's as if nothing has changed."
Police took the suspect into custody, but the stolen wallet was not recovered.