Egyptian authorities managed to apprehend the suspects involved in the theft of a mobile phone from a journalist during a live broadcast on his newspaper's Facebook page in less than 24 hours. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning when an Egyptian journalist was live-streaming to discuss the earthquake that affected some Egyptian cities. A suspect riding a motorcycle seized the mobile phone while the broadcast was ongoing, capturing the thief's face in front of millions of viewers, which stirred significant controversy on social media in the hours that followed. The suspect's image was widely circulated, accompanied by various sarcastic comments.
The Egyptian Ministry of Interior reported that they uncovered the details of the incident, where an unknown assailant on a motorcycle snatched the mobile phone from a correspondent of a news website while he was on the outer ring road in the Bahtim area of the Second Shubra El Kheima Police Department in Qalyubia, as he was live-streaming.
The Ministry clarified that a search team, formed under the leadership of the General Security Sector, with the participation of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Qalyubia Security Directorate, discovered that the crime was committed by an unemployed individual residing in the Qalyub Police Center area, north of Greater Cairo.
It was confirmed that after legal procedures were put in place, the suspect was targeted and arrested at his residence, along with the motorcycle used in the crime. When confronted, he confessed to committing the offense and led authorities to the stolen phone, which was with a trader living in the same area. The trader was also arrested in possession of the stolen phone and acknowledged that he knew the phone was stolen.
The Public Prosecution was informed, and they ordered the detention of the suspects pending the investigation, as well as the return of the phone to its owner.
