A SHOCKING video shows Brits banding together to confront a man who allegedly stole a punter’s phone and tried to escape.
Racha El Khalil was out for dinner in London with pal Tarek on Tuesday, when a stranger allegedly grabbed the phone from their table and sprinted away.
However, artist Racha and her pal followed suit, chasing the man onto the London Underground where they and other passengers demanded he give the phone back – as he denied even having it.
Despite his denial, the man was eventually pressured by passengers who pinched the phone right back out of his pocket, and forced him off the train.
Shocking footage shows the man, dressed in grey trousers, a beige hooded jumper and a blue jacket casually walking away from Racha and Tarek, who appear to have been following him for some time.
The on-screen text reads: “He immediately started running and we followed and caught up to him.”
Racha can be heard tell the man to “give back the phone” while Tarek shouts to others passing by on the street: “He stole my phone.”
Racha can be heard pleading passersby to help as the man breaks out into a run and Tarek chases him towards the London Underground.
The on-screen text then reads: “He goes into the tube station and we follow.”
The man can then be seen peeling an orange as he saunters towards the train, with passengers watching on in shock as Racha and Tarek plead for the phone.
The man then walks onto the train as Tarek threatens: “We’re going to follow you until you give us back our phone – with the police.”
The man appears unfazed as he sits down to eat the orange before the clip cuts to the man confronting another passenger who has demanded that he return the phone.
The alleged thief can be heard repeatedly telling the man to “move” before he is asked to sit back down by another member of the public.
Racha and Tarek thank the gentleman for helping and suggest that he leave the situation for his own safety.
The camera then shows Racha realising that the man can speak French as she begins to converse with him in the language, begging for the phone to be returned.
Racha also warns the man that he is being filmed on camera but the man replies that he does not have a phone on him.
The camera then cut to the man holding the orange to his mouth as he menacingly says to Tarek: “I threw your phone away. Are you an idiot or what?”
Tarek questions where the man threw the phone but the man simply retorts: “I don’t work alone.”
He can then be seen leaving the train and boarding another, as Racha and Tarek follow suit.
He turns around and says to the pair: “I’ll say it once, not twice. You follow me, I hit you.”
A struggle appears to ensue as the passengers on the train gasp in shock and the camera shakes violently.
A stranger appears to have joined the pair as he attempts to persuade the alleged thief to give back the phone.
The man then walks towards onlooking passengers as he eggs them on.
The doors can be heard beeping as they attempt to close but the alleged thief then seems to wedge them open while simultaneously being pushed off the train by passengers.
In a moment of triumph, the group of passengers finally manage to retrieve the phone from the man’s pocket and push him off the train before the doors ultimately close and the train speeds away.
Racha and Tarek gratefully thank them for their help before the clip cuts to Tarek and Racha back on a street in London as Tarek grins with his phone held up to his face.
Racha laughs as she rhetorically asks him: “Is it good to have your phone back?”
Racha took to social media on Tuesday to share the shocking footage, writing: “How my friend’s phone got stolen and how strangers helped us get it back.”
The post received over 562,000 likes and thousands of comments as many were quick to share their thoughts.
One person wrote: “Nope. I’m absolutely not risking anything over the phone of a stranger. Bye.”
Another said: “It’s sadly coming to the point where people will take things into their own hands. It’s all so sad.”
A third commented: “Welcome to London.”
A fourth added: “Never leave your phone on the table.”
Speaking to Racha today, she said: “Three of us were having dinner at a restaurant on the tables outside Cubé.
“A waiter had just brought some food out, so we were reshuffling our things on the table and my friend Tarek, who was sitting on the edge, put his phone on the corner of the table.
“As he did so, a group of three guys were passing by. I remember it was a bit odd because one of them was playing really loud music as the man (the one you see with the orange in the video) passed by.
“He grabbed the phone and started running. Immediately, my friend Tarek followed.
“Seeing this, I also ran after Tarek to make sure he was okay – we would later find out that my other friend who was dining with us also ran after me but lost sight of me and so couldn’t follow.
“Poor thing couldn’t get in touch with us for 40 minutes and kept waiting at the restaurant.
“We followed him all the way to the Elizabeth Line. He kept running and Tarek and I would kind of tag team to keep up.
“As we were running, we were screaming that he stole our phone. We were running and screaming and telling tube staff who called on the intercom system for the police.
“But by that time, the man had already entered the train, so we followed him inside (it was Elizabeth Lne going east from Hanover Square).”
Transport for London has been approached for comment.
