A shocking clip has captured the moment an alleged thief calmly walked off with an influencer’s Louis Vuitton suitcase outside London St Pancras station.
Colleen Bankston is said to have had the designer bag taken on Sunday morning after she looked away for just a moment while loading her luggage into the boot of a taxi.
In the footage, a man wearing headphones and a baseball cap can be seen scanning the area, seemingly checking whether anyone is watching, before crouching slightly to pick up the suitcase and casually walking away.
Ms Bankston, a 62-year-old influencer and personal trainer, appears unaware of what is happening as she stands facing the taxi boot, only feet from the Louis Vuitton case, which is worth more than £2,600.
The suspect then appears to clutch the bag close to his body in an apparent attempt to conceal it, before slipping away through the entrance to the busy London station.
The video, which was taken by a man nearby who said he recognised the suspected thief, was posted on social media by the American fitness influencer, who has 23,000 followers on Facebook.
She captioned the Instagram clip: ‘Get this guy who stole my bag before he gets someone else or, worse, takes a child.’
Thieves often walk around the station wearing headphones to give the impression they are commuters listening to music, it is understood.
Footage shows a man bending down to pick up the suitcase while its owner has her back turned
He then begins walking off with the bag, clutching it to his chest so it is less visible
The suspected thief, wearing headphones and a baseball cap, walks quickly along the outside of the station before turning into the entrance
Reacting to the video, one viewer wrote: ‘He has definitely done this before… He is a pro… I bet he has stolen countless bags from tourists.’ Another said: ‘Happened two weeks ago to my friend at St Pancras.’
The suspect looked smart in a white polo shirt, blue suit trousers, a black rucksack and glasses.
A spokesman for British Transport Police said: ‘Officers are aware of a video showing a man taking a suitcase from outside St Pancras International railway station on Sunday August 30.
‘Enquiries are ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact British Transport Police by texting 61016, quoting reference 447 of 1 September.’
Last month, an Algerian migrant who stole a suitcase containing jewellery worth up to £175,000 outside St Pancras by telling his victim her trousers were dirty was jailed.
Jumama Zaida had just come out of the station in April after she arrived on the Eurostar from Paris when an accomplice told her she had a stain on her clothing and offered her a tissue in a bid to distract her.
As she wiped her trousers, Bilal Arbaoui, 32, then used the opportunity to steal Ms Zaida’s gold Rimowa case, which can cost upwards of £1,000.
She quickly noticed the luggage had been taken and saw Arbaoui running away with it, before notifying police.
Assisted by an Arabic interpreter, Arbaoui appeared at Inner London Crown Court this month and was jailed for 22 months after he pleaded guilty to theft, despite initially denying it was him in CCTV images.
Arbaoui, of Neasden, north-west London, has two previous convictions for similar bag thefts since he arrived in the UK in 2024.
An Algerian migrant who stole a suitcase containing jewellery worth up to £175,000 by telling his victim her trousers were dirty was jailed last month
At the same station in June, classical musician Peter Facer had his oboe stolen
At the same station in June, a classical musician was also targeted in another cruel ‘distraction theft’.
Peter Facer, 38, had his oboe stolen by crooks when he was travelling back from his former woodwind teacher’s retirement party in London on June 14.
The oboist was leaning against railings outside the station entrance when the thieves struck.
Mr Facer was carrying a coffee and two bags, one containing his rare oboe d’amore while the other contained his clothes and a pair of Apple AirPods.
One of the crooks pretended to ask for directions to Euston station while his accomplice stole the ‘sentimental’ instrument.
The young man walked away after Mr Facer repeated instructions to get to Euston as the thief claimed to have limited English.
The classical musician was ‘just trying to be helpful’ – but when he looked down, his possessions, including his cherished woodwind instrument, had vanished.
The Met Police told the Daily Mail at the time: ‘it appears to be a theft not involving violence which means we are unable to provide a comment in this instance.’