Two thieves disguised as Santa Claus were caught on CCTV breaking into an electronics store and looting it in the early hours of Sunday, December 1.
The audacious crime unfolded in the center of Cláudio, a city in southwest Brazil near Belo Horizonte.
Surveillance footage captured the duo arriving at the store and forcing open its security gate with an iron bar.
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Wearing red and white festive costumes, they smashed through the glass door before storming inside armed with a large sack.
While one began filling the bag with stolen goods, the other rapidly cleared items from the shelves, ferrying them outside.
At one point, one of the burglars almost slipped on shards of broken glass before both made a quick exit with the now bulging sack of loot.
The masked pair reportedly fled with a haul including 32 mobile phones, a speaker, and a video game console.
Police revealed that the thieves had stopped outside the store about 20 minutes before the break-in, likely to scout the area.
Local residents, alerted by unusual noises, contacted authorities during the heist. According to reports
from vknews24, a witness even saw the two men leaving the store and fleeing the scene.
The store’s owner, Gustavo Oliveira de Souza, shared his frustration and despair with local media, revealing this was not his first devastating encounter with criminals.
About three years earlier, before he had even opened his physical shop, he was robbed while transporting stock for his online business.
“I had the online shop’s merchandise in my car.
I was approached, there were gunshots, and I managed to escape,” he recalled.
“It was a huge trauma. And now, it’s happened again.
After that incident, I spent three years working to get back on my feet, and now that I’ve finally managed to recover, they’ve taken my stock again.”
Police are actively investigating the burglary and are trying to track down the getaway car. No arrests have been made so far, but detectives are urging anyone with information to come forward.
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SOURCE: Crooks loot electronics store dressed as Father Christmas
