Swedish police give gang of left shoe thieves the boot

Published: 3 Jan 10 09:19 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/24174/20100103/

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Police in Skåne in southern Sweden have busted an international ring of left shoe robbers.

Two 50-something year-old men have been arrested for stealing a total of seven single shoes, reported Sydsvenskan newspaper.

On Saturday afternoon, staff members at a Malmö shopping center witnessed two men stealing several left shoes worth a total of 10,000 kronor ($1,400). When the footwear thieves returned to the store several hours later, they were arrested by police.

According to detective Stig Möller of the Malmö police, it is not an uncommon modus operandi. The thieves will first steal the left shoes in Sweden and then travel to Denmark to steal their right counterparts.

On Saturday night, police searched men's car for the missing footwear.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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09:57 January 3, 2010 by Keith #5083
What? Yet another right-wing conspiracy attacking the liberal left?
11:13 January 3, 2010 by glamshek
hahhahhhha. Good comment
14:49 January 3, 2010 by G Kin
Why do the job twice?

Why take the risk twice?

Doesn't like very smart thieves if that is the case.
15:38 January 3, 2010 by calebian22
If it is such a common modus operani, why wouldn't Sweden and Denmark choose to only display left shoes? I can see the police and vendors now, "How will we ever outwit these diabolical fiends?"

I hope they don't pull a muscle thinking too hard about how to prevent this crime in the future. Seems more like something from Scooby Doo than anything resembling a gang.
16:07 January 3, 2010 by DAVID T
It's great the police did something - mind you would have thought they would have been looking for a 4 year old child that went missing
18:24 January 3, 2010 by peropaco
Seems to me like a lot of work just to steal shoes.. The cost to cross the Danish-Swedish bridge Öresundsbron is roughly 40€ one way and what about the petrol and parking fees.. That value proposition seems rather poor.. I thinkt he thieft had only one leg.
23:13 January 3, 2010 by ringorm
You really think these people pay for anything peropaco?
23:24 January 3, 2010 by travels
Of course it's more important to report on this story than about he Somali guy that just tried to kill the Danish Mohammed cartoonist.
01:13 January 4, 2010 by Keith #5083
So now Somali is part of Sweden, huh? Or have the Danes invaded the Swedish cartoon colony? What the ... has TheLocal (a SWEDISH online newspaper) got to do with either of those,#8 travels????

hint: The Local means...NOT international unless it involves Sweden.

Xtra hint: try CNN, BBC,Foxnews,GP.Aftonbladet,SV1,SV2,SV?,MSN,Somali weekly reporter, Dansk Nyheter, etc.etc.etc.
10:05 January 4, 2010 by salalah
This is just too funny. Really important to report about. I think the thieves are really smart, they figured out that in Sweden the displayed shoes are the left ones and in Denmark the right ones. The store clerks didn't expect that someone would take just one shoe, so they didn't guard the shoes like they were gold.

Of course, stealing is wrong, but the thieves were quite innovative...
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