Australian thief uses fishing rod to steal Versace necklace

Sydney: A thief has been caught on camera hooking a gold necklace with a fishing rod in a brazen nighttime theft from an Australian designer store.

The thief, captured on CCTV, broke the store window in Melbourne's central business district before using a fishing rod to hook the Versace necklace, local police said Wednesday.

But it took the inner-city angler nearly three hours to land his catch.

After first attempts with a smaller rod failed, the man decided to get a bigger rod, eventually snagging the gold $700 (Dh2,571) piece from a mannequin's neck in a crime police described as - until now - unseen.

"It's fairly blatant and it's quite bold as well, to have someone attend with a fishing rod in the middle of the night," Victoria Police Senior Constable Bede Whitty said.

Police released the footage as they attempt to net the balding, middle-aged thief.