Published July 6, 2021 at 07.03
Domestic. In recent weeks, several people have been robbed of their exclusive watches, worth up to millions, in Stockholm. The currently dominant approach is for the perpetrators to contact the victim outdoors and steal the watch without the victim noticing – sometimes by dancing.
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In June, a handful of thefts of more expensive watches took place in central Stockholm. This after there have been very few thefts of this kind during the spring and during the pandemic.
– That people are now starting to be out and that the restrictions can ease can mean that we again get more thefts of more expensive wristwatches in central Stockholm , says Sebastian Ahlqvist, group manager in the local police area Norrmalm, on the police's website.
In recent years, so-called bell robberies have received some attention. The dominant approach has been that two perpetrators followed a crime victim into a stairwell and robbed the person with the help of threats or violence. According to the police, this still happens, but an increasingly common approach is that those who are robbed today do not notice when it happens.
The perpetrators are often perceived as very pleasant and social and approach the victim outdoors for various reasons. They might ask about the road or something. In connection with this, they may give a friendly pat, a hug or make other physical contact and in connection with that, the watch will be stolen.
There are examples of the thieves also dancing with the victim, according to the police.
– It is important that everyone who owns or wears a more expensive watch knows the procedures available so that they can protect themselves. We fear that this will increase during the summer and we are working with visibility to deter possible criminals – in parallel we want to go out with this crime prevention information, says Sebastian Ahlqvist.
The watches that are stolen have so far been worthwhile between 100,000 kronor to over one million.