Wow, your parents must be awesome. (Kinda old story)

[Buzzy]

So about this time last year, some of my freinds and I made a weekend trip to the Mall of America. One evening while we were carousing the mall, we decided to stop at the Underwater Adventures (or whatever they call it) that's basically a big walk through aquarium where you see sharks, etc. Pretty cool.

Anywho, I had just given my shopping bags to the employees to hold while we walked through (thank God they had that service there! I had a ton of stuff). My buddies were waiting for me by the entryway to the tunnel, when this young boy, probably between 5 and 7 years old, came walking up to me and grabbed my purse! I pulled my purse away from him and said "No, that's mine." I figured that would get him to stop. Nope, he grabbed it again and this time tried to run away with it. Luckily I am faster than the average kid and grabbed it back from him, and snapped "That's NOT your purse, you little thief!" He laughed and ran away, giving me a shit-eating grin the whole time. I didn't see any other adults near the kid, since it was a slowish night and we were pretty much the only group at the aquarium.

Could that have been some kind of scam where the parents use their kid to steal stuff? I had heard about that happening on the news and that seems like the only reasonable explanation for that kid's actions... otherwise he's just a little brat. Whatever the reason, some people shouldn't be breeding.

[blas]

Sometimes, as sad as it sounds, parents do use their kids as decoys or little helpers.

I however would relate this story to the "No Boundaries" kid thread about the kid who opened the OP's cat carrier. Some children are never taught boundaries, some kids are never disciplined or taught right from wrong, ever.....I think that's the greater possibility.

[taxguykarl]

Could that have been some kind of scam where the parents use their kid to steal stuff?

Far from a new idea. Oliver Twist was written is 1838.

An indespensible part of that scam is to accuse the theft victim of "abusing" or "molesting" the child.

I heard of a woman who got away with pickpocketing by screaming 'rape' when a victim tried to stop her.

[Fox One]

Oh, wow, slick woman. No sane guy would stay in the area after a rape scream. Since it's so unthinkable to pull, no-one would question it. Nothing like getting pickpocketed then tackled by a couple of guys who are trying to "rescue" your assailant.

[Dips]

Something like that happened to my father when he was travelling in Europe.

A kid stole his wallet, so he grabbed the kid by the wrist and demanded his wallet back.

The kid started yelling and a bunch of adults materialized from and started yelling at my dad in a language he didn't understand. The kid is still screaming. Dad is trying to explain in English, but they are not understanding him (or pretending not to).

Of course, they counted on the mark being embarassed and letting go. What they didn't know is that my dad raised 7 kids and was used to public scenes. He wasn't fazed at all and calmly kept his grip figuring someone would call the police and he could straighten it out.

Which is exactly what happened. The policeman asked Dad what happened. Then he said something in Italian to the kid. One of the relatives suddenly and miraculously "found" the wallet someplace and it was returned intact. The officer seemed pleased that Dad wasn't going to press charges.

[Mnemjian]

I would assume he was just a little brat who didn't know how to respect other people's property, especially if his parents just let him wander around a giant mall without supervision...

... we decided to stop at the Underwater Adventures

lulz, I read that as "Underwear Adventures" sounds fun!!

[Apathy]

Oops... the little thief somehow fell into the shark tank... how awful...