According to SCMP , a woman surnamed Qiu in Fujian Province (China) was arrested by police for intentionally stealing an iPhone 14 Plus just 30 minutes after leaving the store. Video recording the entire action in the store quickly spread online, showing Qiu standing at the smartphone display counter.

The woman leaned against the counter, holding the phone in her right hand and briefly examining the device. She then used her teeth to snap the anti-theft cable before putting the phone in her bag and leaving the store.

The store manager, surnamed Wang, said the alarm had been set off, but staff who checked found nothing unusual. Police officer Zhang Jinhong told SCMP that Qiu had acted cautiously and disguised his plan by pretending to be scrolling through his phone like other customers in the store.

But shortly after the man left, the staff discovered that the security cable had been chewed off and the phone was missing, and they called the police. With the help of surveillance footage, police quickly arrested Qiu about 30 minutes later outside her home.

Qiu told police that after losing her phone, she intended to buy a new one from a store but decided to steal it when she saw the price. Police have detained the woman for investigation.