Lights Out, and the Child Thieves Prey

By STEWARD, Ian

A gang of child thieves has been operating in Christchurch cinemas, sneaking into movies, crawling around the seats and silently relieving people of their valuables.

Beckenham’s Raewyn Vincent, 30, fell prey to the Artful Dodger and his cohorts at Hoyts 8 on Moorhouse Avenue on March 30.

Vincent was in the 3pm screening of supernatural thriller The Eye with about 12 others. Her bag was tucked, safely she thought, under her seat.

Halfway through the film three young boys came in and walked down to seats in front of her. They were of varying ages — one about seven years old, another about 10 or 12, and one about 12 or 13.

The youngest later walked back up the stairs towards the door. A few minutes later he reappeared, wandering back down the stairs to his friends.

He signalled them, at which point they got up and left.

“At the end of the movie I reached under my chair to grab my bag. I reached into my bag to find my sunglasses and put them on my head. No sunglasses. No tobacco, no wallet, no cellphone. The little buggers had ripped me off.

“They took almost everything out of my bag and I didn’t hear a thing.”

Vincent contacted police who told her “things like this were not uncommon”.

Police reviewed security footage from the cinema and spotted the trio.

Constable Bec Helps said she had attended a similar incident, saying “It’s not the first time”.

Helps said the video footage showed the alleged thieves had jumped the turnstile and gone into several films, although Vincent was the only one who had reported items missing.

Helps said she thought the boys were “young but not that young, probably in the nine to 10 to 11 age group”.

Helps said people needed to be aware of the threat and keep their valuables on their knees or leave them at home.

The file had been passed to police detectives for investigation, she said.

Vincent questioned the security at the theatre and particularly how the children were able to move from one movie theatre to another.

Despite several interview requests, Hoyts 8 management were unable to be reached for comment.

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