Thief brazenly steals money in front of wheelchair-bound pensioner
Shocking moment distraction thief brazenly walks into the home of a wheelchair-bound pensioner, 88, before stealing money from his wallet as he watched TV
- Dennis Birch was at his home in Leeds with the door open due to the hot weather
- His CCTV captured the moment an opportunistic thief walked into his home
- He appears to chat to the pensioner before rifling through his wallet
- Mr Birch did not even know the theft had taken place until his carer saw footage
A brazen thief has been captured entering the home of a disabled 88-year-old man and taking £5 from his wallet.
Dennis Birch was sitting in his wheelchair watching television in Leeds on the afternoon of July 10 with the door open due to the hot weather.
CCTV footage shows the moment a man enters the property after noticing the open door.
A thief enters the property of Dennis Birch, a wheelchair-bound 88-year-old, on Wednesday afternoon
He speaks in a friendly manner to Mr Birch while appearing to scope the area for valuable items.
While distracting Mr Birch, the thief picks up his wallet from the counter, rifles through it and walks off with a £5 note.
Mr Birch did not even realise the theft had taken place according to his stepson Paul Daley.
Mr Birch had left the front door open due to the hot weather and the man walked in and greeted him
The family of the 88-year-old only suspected something had happened when his carer called to say he’d seen the live video of an unknown man entering the property.
Mr Birch’s family then went over to his house to view the footage.
Mr Daley said: ‘I was in total shock when I watched the footage.
‘You can hear on the CCTV what he is saying but it’s in a different language and Dad doesn’t understand and wants him out.
He turns around so Mr Birch is unable to see him rifling through the wallet before he takes a £5 note
The wallet is returned to the side and the thief leaves without Mr Birch noticing he had taken anything
‘The guy uses a distraction and is blocking dad’s eyes so he can get his wallet without him seeing it.’
‘It’s affected me because I worry about him and now I worry about him even more because if this guy’s not caught, he’ll be back or passing on his details to his other friends because my dad’s in a wheelchair and can’t defend himself.
In a statement to the Yorkshire Evening Post, police confirmed they are investigating the burglary.
Police said they are investigating the incident and Mr Birch’s stepson Paul Daley said the incident has affected him
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