When we interviewed Luciano in Naples, Italy, our translator, a Napolitano, explained how Rolexes are stolen off the wrists of drivers in the summer.
The team targets expensive cars and scopes out the drivers’ watches from the vantage point of a motorcycle. It’s hot. The windows are up and the air-conditioner is on. Traffic is heavy, as always in Naples, and there are no such things as lanes. Cars squeeze into whatever interstices exist.
There’s a Mercedes that fits the bill. A scooter slips alongside it; the scooter driver folds down the Mercedes’ side mirror in order to pass, and winds away through the gridlock. The Mercedes driver opens her window and readjusts the side mirror with her left hand. That’s the moment another scooter zooms up, rips the Rolex or Cartier or Piaget right off the extended wrist, follows the first scooter between stagnant cars, and disappears into an alley.
Excerpt from Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams
Chapter Three: Getting There—With all your Marbles
6 Comments
[…] cruise ship captain had his Rolex ripped off from the perceived safety of a taxi stopped in traffic, as he rested his arm on the open window. […]
my current old Mercedes(1995) has power folding mirrors. I can fold or unfold the outside mirrros via a switch on the center console. No need to open the window. But it was an optional feature.
At least the thief in Naples only rip the watches off…. I used to live in Taiwan in the late 1980’s. Street crimes and kidnappings were big problems back then. Some drivers had their hands chopped off by thieves using large machetes. (diamond rings, Rolex watches, and most frequently jade bracelets worn by women in Benzes) 🙁 That’s actually far better than being dragged out of the car and kidnapped for ransom. My own uncle was kidnapped as he was driving down the road. He was only returned after the family paid a US$100,000 ransom.
If they are right handed you just follow them until they visit a country where people drive on the opposite side of the road.
What if the victim were right handed?
Too bad the driver can’t adjust that mirror from the *inside* as on many automobiles. You’d think fabulous Mercs would have this feature.
Getting an umbrella out a window might be a mite difficult, yelm. 😉
Too bad the driver can’t just smack the crook with an umbrella.