Nelson thieves' genius method to evade detection goes viral

Two thieves have been caught on CCTV stealing outdoor furniture from a store on a busy Nelson road.

Security footage shows a male and female walking out of the Wakefield Quay carpark and onto the Woodrocks store property at 2.45am on Sunday.

After carrying one bench table across the road and into a nearby carpark, the pair of brazen thieves then walked back to the store to steal a bench seat.

But it was their next move that left Nelson locals bemused and amused.

As the pair carry the seat across the road, an oncoming car frightens them, forcing them to retreat.

But instead of panicking, the thieves used some quick thinking to avoid suspicion by quickly placing the seat on the footpath and sitting on it as the car drives by.

One of the daring thieves even waved as the car went by, avoiding any attention to their sinister actions.

They then quickly get off the seat, pick it up and walk it across the road and into the carpark where a getaway car awaits.

Many locals are furious at the brazen thieves' actions, but some saw the funny side to their sinister act.

"I'm sorry, but when they put the seat down and sit on it. That's the funniest thing I've ever seen," one person wrote on the Nelson Snippets Facebook page.

Another said: "The ole sit down at the bus stop trick...... funny as!!!!.... sorry for the owners though."

One person said it reminded them of a Benny Hill episode.

"Hahaha at just dropping the seat and sitting like they were waiting for a bus. Can someone speed up to be a Benny Hill episode please?!"

A person who claims to be the driver going past in the clip wrote on the Nelson Snippets Facebook page that when they saw the thieves sit down and wave, they wondered why the shop was still open at 3am.

After the release of the CCTV footage, one person added the Benny Hill theme Yakety Saxand uploaded it to YouTube.

Management from the Woodrocks art and crafts furniture store have said they do not wish to comment.

The theft is yet to be reported to police.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is reproduced here with permission.