Pint-sized thief! The extraordinary moment a four-year-old boy brazenly snatches wads of cash coming out of ATMs right under the noses of his victims

  • Youngster seen pestering a woman and then a man as they wait for their money
  • As soon as the cash appears, the boy snatches is and moves onto his next victim
  • Son of street sellers steals total of £115 as his victims stand astonished on CCTV
  • When a man is targeted, he chases the boy off camera and wrestles money back

By Gerard Couzens for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

This is the extraordinary moment a man gets into a tussle with a four-year-old thief after he runs off with the money he has just taken from a cash machine.

The pint-sized youngster pesters a woman using one of the bank ATMs before turning his attention to a well-dressed man waiting for money at the neighbouring machine.

Like other customers queuing for cash, he assumes the child is with one of the adults waiting in line.

But CCTV footage shows the youngster grabbing the banknotes the minute they appear and turning and running off in the next deft movement.

Shocked Juan Alberto Ibarra, the victim of the attempted theft, freezes for a split-second before chasing after the youngster and struggling with him to the astonishment of onlookers as he attempts to wrench the banknotes out of his hand.

Today it emerged the boy - whose street seller parents were nowhere to be seen - had nearly pinched £115.

The unbelievable sequence of events happened on Monday afternoon at a branch of the Estado Bank in the Chilean city of Valparaiso.

Mr Ibarra told how he managed to retrieve his money in an interview with his local paper after initially confusing the youngster for the son of the woman using the ATM beside him.

The pint-sized youngster pesters a woman using one of the bank ATMs before turning his attention to a well-dressed man waiting for money at the neighbouring machine

The pint-sized youngster pesters a woman using one of the bank ATMs before turning his attention to a well-dressed man waiting for money at the neighbouring machine

He told La Estrella de Valparaiso: 'This tiny boy came up beside me and when the money came out, he stuck his hand out and took it with incredible speed before turning and sprinting off.

'I went after him and managed to get hold of him and told him: 'What on earth are you doing taking other peoples' money!' and he replied: 'Let go of me, f***wit' and that's when he let go of the cash.

'People were astonished because he was so small, yet so quick and aggressive in his way of speaking.

'I asked where his mum was but no-one was around. I thought he was with the woman beside me but it wasn't the case.

'If this had happened to an elderly lady, she'd never have managed to stop him in time.'

Mr Ibarra, who comes from the Chilean capital Santiago, filed a formal complaint which is being dealt with by a youth court and is likely to end with the questioning of his parents to determine if they can adequately look after the youngster.

Bank staff told him they have experienced several problems with the infant who often steals paperwork from their desks or sets off the alarm.

The victim of the attempted theft said: 'If they can save this youngster, it would be good.

'He's so young and he's going to end up in real problems if he's not stopped early on.

'I saw him playing shortly after what happened and he was with his dad. I think he must have learned this behaviour from someone close to him.' 

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