Caught on video: Australian thief fails in robbery attempt

Some robberies are prevented by the police. Some robberies are stopped by the quick thinking of ordinary people. But this one was prevented by the sheer ineptitude of the thief himself.

A video of the would-be burglar's bungled attempting to steal an ATM from a petrol station in Townsville, Queensland, Australia has gone viral, racking up over a million views since it was posted on YouTube and Facebook.

The one-minute video first shows the man drive up to the station in a truck on the night of Tuesday, May 12, before breaking into the station with a brick and sledgehammer.

Breaking-in was about the only thing the offender succeeded at accomplishing that evening.

He, then, dragged a chain into the store and attempted to tie it around the cash machine, with the intention of pulling it out with the vehicle.

But the chain disconnects from another chain that is attached to the back his truck, and the thief, not realising this, then drives off without the machine.

Realising his mistake, the thief then returns to the station for a second attempt, but fails to connect the two chains because they are not long enough.

Frustrated, he decides to abandon the robbery attempt and drives away.

Australian news website Brisbanetimes.com.au quoted Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Hicks as saying that the vehicle was stolen from a business earlier that night.

The video was released by the Queensland Police complete with some humorous music in the background.

This man is not the first inept would-be offender to be caught on video.

In March this year, a thief who snatched a woman's handbag was not fast enough in getting back on his motorcycle and riding off.  Instead, the woman rode off on his motorcycle causing him to run after her.

In another incident in December last year, a knife-wielding man in China who tried to rob a bank was ignored by tellers and told to stand in line to wait his turn.

In March last year, another failed robbery attempt in Australia involved a thief who tried to rob a shop with a fake gun. The shopkeeper, recognising the gun as a fake, simply refused to comply with his demands.

seanyap@sph.com.sg