Thief on horseback steals cell phone
Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:20 AM ET17
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian police have arrested a teenager who rode a horse into a busy district of Rio de Janeiro and, brandishing a toy gun, forced a man to hand over his cell phone.
Police told Reuters on Thursday the 15-year-old had confessed he borrowed the horse from a neighbor in the Rio slum where he lives and committed the crime after being promised $20 for a phone with a camera by members of a local criminal gang.
He rode into the courtyard of a hospital in Rio's Meier neighborhood and snatched the phone from a man waiting in line there. When police caught up with him a few blocks away, he was on foot and the horse was nowhere to be seen.
"I've been robbed four times in this area, but this time I was totally flabbergasted seeing a boy on horseback ordering me to give up my phone. I've seen robbers on bikes or on foot, but this is crazy," Extra newspaper quoted the victim as saying.
Horses are not a common sight on Rio streets but they can sometimes be seen in the slums on the outskirts.
