A man who stood motionless in a shop window in Warsaw holding a bag and hoping to pass for a mannequin has been charged with suspected theft and burglary.
Polish police said the 22-year-old suspect, whom they have not named, went unnoticed by staff and shoppers as he stood frozen in the window to blend in with the mannequins.
He was accused of going into various departments and taking jewellery after closing time.
“With a bag in his hand he stood still in front of a shop window, pretending to be a display mannequin,” police in the central Warsaw district of Śródmieście said in a statement. “When he felt safe, he went hunting and robbed the island of jewellery.”
The man was is also accused of other shopping centre incidents. On another day, he allegedly went to a shopping centre bar after closing time and “ate his fill”, then entered a designer clothes shop “to exchange his clothes for new ones”. He was captured on CCTV sliding under a tiny gap in the shop shutters.
In another incident, he is alleged to have waited until closing time to take money from several cash registers and to have attempted to steal items.
Eventually, police said, “his luck finally ran out” when he was spotted and held by security. The man has been remanded in custody for three months and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
