To Catch a Thief

French justice was served as 2 pickpockets were nabbed on my train yesterday.  I was coming back home from The Forum at Les Halles--Chatelet station, which (I think) is the biggest station in Paris.  It also connects to the airport and a giant mall (The Forum), so people are carrying luggage and it is always jam-packed--in fact, someone needs to slap me if I decide I want to go back over there--think of The Galleria & Intercontinental Airport combined...good pickins' for pockets, if you know what I mean.

The metro was really crowded, which is prime pickpocket time....Next thing I know, a man ran by me (which took real skill on a crowded metro) and yelled "Pickpockets!!!"  There was a scuffle, and then there was screaming, (in French of course) and then 2 teenage girls were branded as the pickpockets. The man who was the head pickpocket catcher started yelling at the girls and asking passengers to call the police.  I understood everything that was happening, but just in case, a lady sitting across from me narrated the story (in English, which I appreciated) as she & I bonded through desire to stay away from the catching, yet remain close enough to view the suspects.

So, just to pass along my new friend's warning:  She said the pickpockets are always girls, which was not what I pictured at all.  She said there are always 2-3 of them.  One gets your attention, while the others get into your bag or wallet.  I guess I always picture criminals as ugly looking men who need to shave and wear a permanent scowl.  These girls looked like they could have been friends of my 2 daughters. Totally normal teenage girls.

The pickpocket catcher (with encouragement from the crowd) corralled the girls and held their wrists for the next 5 stops, all the while lecturing the girls and stopping occasionally to address the interested passengers with details about his crime-fighting expertise and plan to deposit them at the nearest police station.  A fellow pickpocket vigilante managed to call the police from the train (there is a panic button on every metro) and apparently, the Charles De Gaulle/Etoile stop had the nearest police station.  Pickpocket Catcher man dragged them off to justice as the rest of the train nodded their approval.  I, meanwhile, snapped a photo.  Couldn't help myself.

The Pickpocket Catcher