Fox SportsThey say the perfect crime is always done in plain sight, and I’d be inclined to think they’re right after watching this man expertly steal an ice cream in the background of a national news report.
Not only was it on national television in the United States, but the ice cream also happened to belong to an excited ice hockey fan, supporting the Carolina Hurricanes after their 8-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.
The Fox Sports news reporter was delivering his pitch to camera without a hitch while excited fans frantically bounced around in the background.
But many people watching at home missed the incredible moment, which has been hailed ‘the greatest theft captured on film’.
As one hockey fan, who is holding the ice cream in his left hand, becomes distracted by looking at his friend’s phone, a fellow hockey fan leans over and gently lifts the ice cream he is holding out of its paper sleeve, and takes a huge mouthful, leaving ice cream all around his mouth.
The thief, who has since been identified as Weston Davis, gave a cheeky look down the barrel of the camera before attempting to return the ice cream cone to its true owner’s hand.
However, the owner of the ice cream realised his hand was now empty, so he turned around in the direction of Weston, prompting the snack snatcher to duck into the crowd to escape being caught.
The clip, which was aired on Fox Sports, has now also been viewed millions of times online, after being shared by many outlets including ESPN and the official Hurricanes account, where people were quick to praise Weston’s smooth move.
Fox SportsWhile many people assumed the stunt was fake and staged, Weston later came forward to reveal the ice cream owner was actually his good friend Joe Campen, but the theft wasn’t a set up.
Joe told The Athletic that, although he had felt someone messing around with the ice cream, he decided to ignore it because he didn’t think someone would be cheeky enough to steal it.
Weston told the publication:
Joe and I are good friends.
He was standing there behind the camera and I just thought I’d mess with him hoping maybe the camera would get a shot of it.
You’ve got to give it to him, he’s played a blinder there.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.