Thief Arrested After Stealing Journalists Phone During Livestream And Broadcasts His Own Image To Viewers

A thief has been arrested after he grabbed an Egyptian journalist’s phone while he was live streaming and broadcast his own face to thousands of viewers as he sped away, leading to his arrest a few hours later.

The suspect was arrested hours after the incident as countless Facebook users were able to identify him as the thief.

The initial live stream being filmed by the Egyptian reporter was suddenly switched to being filmed by the thief on his motorbike as he fled away after snatching the device on a bridge in Cairo, Egypt, on 19th October.

A thief steals a journalist’s phone during a live broadcast, and millions of Egyptians are watching it in Cairo. (Newsflash)

The broadcaster, Mahmoud Raghebv, from the Egyptian newspaper The Seventh Day, had been broadcasting live on Facebook with his phone when the robbery occurred.

The broadcaster was reporting on a recent earthquake near the bridge when the motorbike approached behind him.

As seen in the footage, the biker grabs the phone from the journalist and then puts the phone between his legs as he rides away.

A thief steals a journalist’s phone during a live broadcast, and millions of Egyptians are watching it in Cairo. (Newsflash)

The thief was apparently unaware it was still running and even looks directly at the camera with a cigarette in his mouth while according to local media millions of spectators on Facebook watch the bizarre event unfold live.

The broadcaster had no chance of reacting that the time as the robbery occurred within a few seconds.

MiddleEast in 24 said the live broadcast was bombarded with comments showing support for the journalist and warning the thief that they had all seen his face.

A thief steals a journalist’s phone during a live broadcast, and millions of Egyptians are watching it in Cairo. (Newsflash)

The authorities launched an investigation and due to the fact that the thief had clearly shown his face, they were able to track him down within less than 24 hours.

The mobile phone has been recovered and the suspect arrested.

It is unclear what charges the suspect will be facing.