--- description: An alleged thief who snatched a woman's cell phone was caught about 10 seconds after the act when he ran straight into a police station. title: Cell Phone Thief Mistakenly Runs Right Into Police Station image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch a Cell Phone Thief Run Right Into a Police Station in Ill-Advised Escape Plan  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:17 PM CUTPublished: Apr 11, 2017 2:56 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:17 PM CUTPublished: Apr 11, 2017 2:56 PM CUT An alleged [thief](http://time.com/4718405/doris-payne-jewel-thief-plead-guilty-georgia-necklace/ "undefined") who snatched a woman’s [cell phone](http://time.com/money/4602828/turn-off-cell-phone-plane-flight/ "undefined") in China was apprehended about 10 seconds after the act when he ran straight into a [police station](http://time.com/4530915/bomb-backpack-police-station-fbi/ "undefined"). Apparently unaware of his surroundings, the man found himself in the precinct’s parking lot while attempting to make a quick getaway. [Surveillance footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoPRrR0YWqc "undefined") posted by of the incident in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, shows the man grabbing the phone out of the woman’s hand on a city sidewalk before taking off in the direction of the station. The woman — who tried to chase the thief but tripped and fell — then enters the compound and points him out to a nearby officer. Watch the clip [here](https://www.facebook.com/pg/shanghaiist/videos/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4734449/phone-thief-runs-to-police/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4734449/phone-thief-runs-to-police/"},"headline":"Watch a Cell Phone Thief Run Right Into a Police Station in Ill-Advised Escape Plan","datePublished":"2017-04-11T14:56:32.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T22:17:55.000Z","description":"That's what you call karma","url":"https://time.com/4734449/phone-thief-runs-to-police/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","Bizarre","theft","robbery"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4734449/phone-thief-runs-to-police/","name":"Watch a Cell Phone Thief Run Right Into a Police Station in Ill-Advised Escape Plan"}}]}] ```