Image source, Warsaw Police
A man has been accused of posing as a mannequin in a Warsaw shop window to steal jewellery after closing time.
The 22-year-old was pictured standing still and holding a bag in a window of the store, which police have not named.
Police said the accused went “hunting” in various departments after closing, before settling on a jewellery stand.
The man is also accused of stealing items from a second mall. He has been charged with burglary and theft and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Warsaw Police said that staff and shoppers failed to notice anything unusual as the man stood in the window, and blended in with several mannequins.
Police said that he stood still until “he felt it was safe”, then walked through various departments after closing time before taking jewellery.
He was eventually spotted by security staff.
The man is accused in two other incidents. In the first, police say he dined late at a restaurant in a second shopping centre and waited for it to close.
Police said he then entered a clothing store and “exchanged his clothes for new ones”, before returning to the restaurant for another meal.
He was caught on CCTV slipping under the clothing store’s partially open shutters.
Image source, Warsaw Police
Robert Szumiata, a police spokesman, said that in the third incident at another location, the man waited until after closing time and then “took money from several cash registers and tried to steal other items”.
Police have released pictures of the suspect’s eventual arrest.
The man has been remanded in custody for three months, prosecutors in Warsaw said.