Shocking surveillance footage shows the moment a 17-year-old boy dies after being hit by a bus while trying to steal an elderly man’s mobile phone.
The teenager is seen approaching the 71-year-old man as he spoke on the phone on a street corner in the southeastern Brazilian city of São Paulo last Friday.
The victim appeared to be about to cross to the opposite sidewalk when the teenager suddenly grabbed his cell phone and ran away.
It took a few seconds for the bus to cross the intersection and hit the unsuspecting attacker before immediately coming to a complete stop.
The teenager, whose name was not released, was rushed to Brasilândia Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
A 17-year-old boy was caught on camera stealing a 71-year-old man’s cell phone on a street corner just seconds before he was hit by a bus as he tried to flee in São Paulo, Brazil, last Friday.
The teenager was trapped under the bus moments after being run over while trying to flee after stealing the cellphone of a 71-year-old man in the city of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, last Friday.
Pedro Garbin, 38, told Brazilian news outlet Metropoles that the boy was able to get out from under the bus without help.
“He fell on the sidewalk, he was lying down, talking, moving around,” the businessman said.
Gabriel Silva, 20, was cutting a customer’s hair at a barbershop when he was startled by the impact of the bus that hit the teenager.
“I heard a loud noise and ran out into the street,” she said. “He was lying on the ground in excruciating pain.”
A 17-year-old boy was hit by a bus and later killed after trying to flee down a Brazilian street after being caught on camera stealing a 71-year-old man’s cellphone last Friday.
The teenager (seen above second from right) failed to see the bus approaching the intersection as he attempted to flee after stealing an elderly man’s cell phone.
At least 158,150 robberies and 137,891 cell phone thefts were reported in the state of São Paulo in 2023, according to the annual report released by the Brazilian Security Forum last Wednesday.
In São Paulo, the state capital, an average of 1,781.6 cellphones were stolen or robbed per 100,000 inhabitants, crime data show.
In total, 937,294 cell phones were stolen or robbed across Brazil last year, an average of 107 per hour.
The director of the Brazilian Security Forum, Samira Bueno, told Brazilian news outlet G1 that the rise in cellphone thefts and robberies marks a “profound change in the dynamics of property crimes” in the South American nation.
‘It was already a trend, but with the reduction in the movement of people, with the digitalization of banking in general, both cell phone theft and fraud are becoming more accessible because your whole life is on your cell phone,’ said Bueno.
“Sometimes it’s not just about your life, but about your entire family. It’s photos, it’s other people’s contacts. This reveals a change in patterns.”