Two men are set to appear at Oslo City Court charged with stealing the mobile phones from bar and restaurant Justisen in the centre of the Norwegian capital, newspaper VG reports.
The telephones, all of which were iPhones, were lifted from guests’ pockets and bags, according to the report.
Restaurant manager and co-owner Jama Awaleh told VG he was aware of the case.
“We were made aware when a number of guests came to our bartenders around the same time and said their mobile phones had disappeared. We then came in mind of who we thought it could be and contacted the police,” Awaleh said to the newspaper.
The restaurant owner also said that a number of establishments knew of the issue.
“This is naturally very unfortunate. We want our guests to have a good time, but this is also difficult to prevent. Our employees are waiting staff and security personnel who do not have specialised training in detecting theft,” he told VG.
Last year, 8,119 instances of pickpocketing (defined as personal theft in public places) were reported to Oslo’s police district, a decrease of 16.1 percent on the previous year, according to police statistics.
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