2024-08-27 01:55:26
The author of the book wants to give him a copy to finish it
A man has been arrested in an attempted robbery after he was caught reading a book at the crime scene in Italy, the BBC reports.
The 38-year-old perpetrator broke into someone else’s apartment in the Prati district of the Italian capital through the balcony. He became distracted and failed to carry out the theft, as he took a book related to Homer’s Iliad from the bedside table in the apartment and began to read it.
It is speculated that the 71-year-old homeowner awoke and came face-to-face with the thief, who was engrossed in the book.
After being caught off guard, the alleged thief tried to make a quick escape by exiting through the same balcony he used to sneak in, but was arrested shortly afterwards.
The man allegedly told police he went up the building to visit someone he knew. “I thought I was in a bed and breakfast, I saw the book and started reading it,” explains the detainee.
News of the botched theft caught the attention of the book’s author, who told local media he wanted to send a copy to the man so he could “finish” his reading.
“I would like to find the man caught at the scene and give him the book because he will be arrested in the middle of reading it. I wish he could finish it. It’s a surreal story, but also full of humanity,” says author Giovanni Nucci.
The thief was reportedly in possession of a bag of expensive clothes allegedly stolen from another house earlier that evening, Nova reported.