Man steals iPhone from 20-month-old girl watching ‘Barney the Dinosaur’

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A thief in Lancashire, England has been caught on video stealing an iPhone from a 20-month-old girl who was watching a “Barney the Friendly Dinosaur” children’s program.

Danielle Hinnigan, 26, was browsing clothes at a local shop when surveillance cameras captured a middle-aged man with glasses snatch the Apple smartphone and walk away.

“Mummy, Barney gone, gone,” she recalled her daughter, Luella, saying.

“Luella loves Barney and was watching a show on my phone. I thought maybe she had dropped it, I never thought someone would go in her pram and take it off her,” she explained to the Liverpool Echo. “I’m just glad it was just the phone and Luella was OK. He’s followed me into that shop, to think he has targeted my daughter is disgusting. Everyone is absolutely disgusted, her dad was really angry and upset.

West Lancs inspector Andy Willis called the theft a “despicable offense.”

“[I]t appears that the suspect has deliberately targeted a child knowing the crime would be relatively easy to commit,” the inspector said. “I would urge anyone with any information to contact PC 659 Holdsworth on 101 and ask for Lancashire Police or Crimestoppers on [011 +44] 0800 555 111.”

As the Mac Observer noted, Apple products are becoming more popular among thieves, with thefts up 40 percent this year in New York City alone.

Watch this video from The Sun, broadcast Oct. 4, 2012.