A PHONE thief dubbed “Cinderella” after he was knocked off his bike and was snared by his missing shoe has been banged up.
Spencer Duarte, 28, was stopped in his tracks by furious city workers when he grabbed a mobile phone August 7, 2024, at around 12pm at Ludgate Hill, central London.
Spencer Duarte lost a trainer in the scuffle with city workers when they tried to stop him[/caption]
Duarte has now been sentenced to 15 months behind bars[/caption]
Forensic experts were able to match his DNA to the shoe he left behind at the scene.
Duarte was spotted and stopped by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service on September 9 and brought to Bishopsgate police station for interview, where he was arrested on suspicion of theft from a person.
He has now been sentenced to 15 months behind bars, the City of London Police said.
Duarte, 29, of Saffron Walden, pleaded guilty in June at Inner London Crown Court to one count of theft.
Footage shows a courageous pedestrian tackling the career criminal to the ground – causing Duarte to fall from his bike.
He managed to clamber back on but received another karma hit when he was pulled from the saddle for a second time.
Duarte eventually managed to flee on foot but left his trainer and his rucksack, which had a pack of disposable face coverings and two rolls of kitchen foil, behind in the scuffle.
Cops then used that to track down the prolific thief.
Kitchen foil is often use by phone thieves to wrap stolen phones; this acts a faraday bag and prevents the phone from being traced and detected.
Duarte was also seen discarding his cycle helmet and the other shoe.
Duarte also admitted possessing items with intent to steal.
Andrew Walker, physical forensics manager at the City of London Police said: “We were able to get sufficient levels of DNA from the shoe to obtain a single, major profile that was suitable for searching against the national DNA database.
“This search generated a ‘hit’ to a male whose profile had previously been uploaded.
“The slipper fitted our Cinderella and we were able to bring him before the courts.”
Duarte was jailed for four years in 2018 after he grabbed six mobile phones in just an hour from pedestrians in Islington and the West End.
Following his arrest for that spree, Duarte managed to escape police after faking kidney pain so he would be taken to hospital.
Duarte was also part of a gang who grabbed 14 handbags worth £50,000 from the Louis Vuitton shop in Sloane Street, Chelsea, in 2015.
Jake Dean, Police Constable of the City of London Police, said: “Do not come to the City and think you can steal from residents, workers or visitors without paying the penalty.
`’Our targeted patrols, excellent police work and extensive CCTV will mean you will be caught and brought to justice.
“Phone snatching has a significant impact on victims and our key priority has been to reduce the number of phones stolen and relentlessly target those criminals responsible.”
Duarte was twice tackled by bystanders[/caption]
Duarte was dubbed ‘Cindarella’ by cops as they managed to trace him through DNA found on the trainer he left behind[/caption]
