A few years ago I was walking through our local mall on a weekday afternoon when I almost had my pocket picked. A group of teenagers positioned themselves near the food court so you had to walk through them, then one of them would snatch your wallet and run while the others made a wall. One of them tried to grab my wallet, which should have been easy to do wearing suit pants, but it had a button, and no dice. The kid ran off with nothing.
The amazing gall of these kids is that they didn't even bother to leave. I found mall security, who did nothing but tell them to move along, which they did for about 1 minute and came back. So I went back to security to complain. While I was waiting another guy showed up who they had successfully picked. I told him what happened, how they tried it with me, and the security officer did not call the police. He was furious, and threatening to sue the mall. I hope he did, but since I gave that guy my phone number and a lawyer never called, I am guessing not.
I think this guy had the right idea how to handle the situation. But I bet he gets sued.
Bill Barnes, a 72 year old man who was getting his pocket picked by a 27 year old, "grabbed the person's wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened".
Barnes is an ex-marine, Golden Glove boxer and retired iron worker. That guy couldn't have picked on the wrong person if he targeted John Rambo.
Well, there's my smile for the day.
Ex-Marine Teaches Pickpocket a Lesson