City of Hugs and Thugs. Naples, Italy— Friday morning we had a friend take pictures of Bob and me getting onto crowded trams. A thief we’ve seen in years past appeared across the street. As a tram arrived, he crossed over and merged into the crowd, then positioned himself behind Bob. When we started to board, he took the prop wallet from Bob’s back pocket. We grabbed him and convinced him to talk with us for a few minutes.
He said his name was Angelo B. (sorry, can’t use real names). We had interviewed a Luciano B. in 1998, and have seen him many times since then. Angelo was Luciano’s brother. We had no common language, but enough to agree to meet back at that corner at 2:00, when Angelo could take a break from work. I didn’t believe Angelo would show up, but he did. We had an excellent interpreter with us.
Meanwhile, Angelo had met up with Mario, a thief we interviewed with his partner, Tony, in 2001. Mario told Angelo that we were okay to talk to.
There are four B. brothers, all are pickpockets. Angelo has four children, none are thieves; he won’t allow it. Luciano said the same about his in 1998. We had a lively conversation with Angelo for 20 minutes or so, and he told us we can find him working this area every day between 9 and 2. Then he goes home for lunch and a nap. He’s back working from 6 to 8. Later I realized why he and his colleagues come back in the evening. Just across the street is the ferry terminal, where daytrippers return from Capri, Ischia, and Sorrento. Many of these tourists take the tram from the ferry to the train station.
Bob stole a few things from Angelo while our friend snapped some pictures with my camera. We noticed that Angelo’s wallet was on a chain, and when he showed us his ID, we saw there was no money in his wallet. Bob suggested that he and I should visit Angelo in his home next time we visit Naples. I don’t intend to take that chance. Our interpreter also refused.
This is part 1 of 4. Part 2
6 Comments
[…] how we first met Angelo in 2004. Read about Angelo-the-family-celebrity in […]
haha mark…stop looking at travel agents website…those who say rome is a bigger pickpocket city than Naples have probably never dare going to Naples. You will be there for 5 min and as soon as you will drop your suitcase they’ll pull the Napoli speciale on you….dont worry bout it
In whose list, Mark? TripAdvisor’s? What kind of experts are they? Nobody does first-hand, in-the-field research like we do, and we say Naples is one of THE top cities for pickpocketing. Angelo is not an actor, though he’s full of personality. We first met him many years ago, when he tried to pickpocket Bob. That encounter turned into an interesting conversation, in which he offered up his ID, as if he were afraid of us. Later, he must have discussed us with his brother, whom we had met several years before. It’s a fascinating underworld, and one we may very well make another film about.
why you don’t say that Angelo is professional Actor?
Naples isn’t even in the top 5 for pickpockets in Italy.
[…] or more likely on the ground. The notion of a quixotic thief appeals to my wispy romantic being. Luciano, that ever-present menace on Naples’ trams, told us that, since he doesn’t use the credit cards […]
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