Tourist Accidentally Captures Her Own Mugging on Camera at Rio’s Arpoador

By Jack Arnhold, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Arpoador is one of the top tourist destinations in Rio de Janeiro. Locals and gringos alike gather to applaud the sunset, take a picture with the statue of Tom Jobim or watch the surfers catch waves nearby, but one tourist, unfortunately, managed to film her own mugging as she tried to capture her surroundings on film.

The unnamed tourist, according to Brazilian website Catcara Livre, is from the Brazilian state of Paraná. She is seen walking along the promenade, filming herself and her surroundings, when the thief cycles up behind her and snatches the phone from her hand. The camera even continues to film his face as he appears to calmly cycle off, earphones in and sunglasses on.

Rio de Janeiro has always struggled to shrug off its reputation as a violent and dangerous city despite continuing to attract tourists from all around the globe and from within Brazil. Recent steps taken by the local government have seen city hall posting more security forces around top tourist attractions such as the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, the Selarón steps in Lapa, and the trails of Corcovado.

Although this robbery must have been shocking for the tourist involved, she was promptly assisted by agents from the Guarda Municipal stationed nearby, and according to O Globo, the device was quickly recovered.

The agents managed to find the cell phone through an inbuilt tracker, which took them to Rua da Conceição in Rio’s historic city center.

The police then found and arrested two suspects who had the device on them; however, they weren’t the actual mugger. They were then taken to a police station in the city center for further questioning and the device was returned to the tourist.