A number of thieves are acting like victims of their own robberies in an effort to throw cops and other residents off their trail, THE STAR has learnt.

Information reaching THE STAR indicate that thieves have devised the ingenious way of escaping from the scene of their crimes for fear of being caught by police or worst, residents willing to administer their own form of justice.

"Wah betta way fi get people affa yuh back?" one man, who admitted to being a pickpocket, told THE STAR. "Mi tek two wallet pon a bus already and when di man dem start bawl say dem get rob, mi bawl say mi get rob to and tell the driver tun the bus roun' 'cause me see one yute just come affa di bus and me suspect a him."

He said when the driver refused he created a scene and forced the other commuters, including the two men he had robbed, to join him in cursing the bus crew, effectively throwing off anyone who might have thought him a suspect.

"All di conducta mi start cuss and a tell him say a him a work wid di teifing bwoy," the thief said, laughing. "Di driva mussi ketch him fraid and stop the bus and me and some people say we a come off and go up di road go look fi di bwoy. Wen mi come off, mi just tek time leggo deh so."

Another man, who claims to work with a network of others to rob people in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, of mostly cellular phone and money, said after many of his robberies when the victims raise an alarm and start running, he starts running too telling onlookers to join him in chasing the 'invisible' thief.

"All police mi run go to and tell dem sah dem just rob one woman and mi a run dung one a di bwoy dem," he revealed. "Sometimes some a mi parrie dem a run with me and a gwaan like we nuh know we one aneeda and a ask, "A weh him rob yuh, big man?"

Another thief pointed out, however, that it is not always smooth sailing and sometimes one person in the network has to be sacrificed.

"One day me an' mi parrie go town and we rob two people, a man an' a woman. Di woman start bawl tief and dem hold on pon mi bredrin, but dem neva recognise me," he explained. "Dem say dem a go beat him, but a two a dem did a par, mi nuh wait fi dem start look fi mi, mi jus' start throw on some lick pon him, and di other people dem start beat him to."

The method being used by the robbers may shock many, but not the police. "Yeah man, we have found out that is going on," a subofficer from the St Andrew Central Police Division told THE STAR. "Some of them when they rob people they run and bawl 'tief, tief, tief', but we know what's going on and we are looking out for them."

The police say they have received many reports of people being robbed in the division, especially in the Half-Way Tree area, mostly of cellular phones, and this has caused them to flood the area with police personnel who are more vigilant about the petty thieves.

"We have held quite a few and we still get reports of robberies but not as much as before," another policeman revealed.