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A phone snatcher picked the wrong target after stealing a mobile from a track athlete while she was filming a TikTok in London.
Elizabeth Lopez Aguilar, 24, was filming in front of the London Eye while on holiday in the capital when a man snatched her phone from right in front of her.
The Texan was in London celebrating her boyfriend's birthday and they were planning to see Hercules on the West End that evening.
Ms Aguilar set her phone up a few feet in front of her and had started speaking to the camera when the thief swooped in with the camera still rolling.
But the thief had no idea he had just targeted a track athlete, specialising in sprinting and long-distance running.
Within minutes, Ms Aguilar and her boyfriend, Abraham Tahtou, chased after him and retrieved the phone.
The sports enthusiast competes in sprint competitions and Olympic distance triathlons and is currently training for an Ironman.
'I genuinely think the thief had no idea who he was messing with,' Ms Aguilar said.
Elizabeth Lopez Aguilar, 24, was filming a video on TikTok in London while on holiday from Texas
Just seconds after she started filming a man appeared and swiped her phone from right in front of her
The footage showed the thief running off with the phone before the footage cut out
She added: 'I immediately went into running mode and wouldn't stop until the guy was caught.'
'At first I was laughing because I thought it was my boyfriend playing a prank.
'But then I realised it was real. I was shocked but immediately kicked into full gear.'
Mr Tahtou also joined the chase, and together they were able to corner the thief and retrieve the phone.
However the couple decided against calling the police, leaving the phone snatcher free to roam the streets.
She said: 'I thought it was a prank at first but immediately sprung into action and chased after him.
'My boyfriend had also noticed and ran after him with me. We caught him quickly after I was able to grab his arm and take the phone back.
'We didn't pursue any additional legal action or call the police as the man did not fight back and immediately left once we recovered the phone.'
Ms Aguilar pictured with her boyfriend Abraham Tahtou, who helped her catch the phone thief
Ms Aguilar is just one of thousands of victims, including residents and tourists, who have been targeted by London's phone snatchers.
Figures released by the Met in August showed 116,000 mobile phones were stolen in London last year, or 320 every single day.
There were 116,656 reported mobile thefts in 2024 – the highest number on record – and more than 50 per cent higher than the total in 2017 of just over 77,000.
Last year's total was equivalent to 13 phones being stolen every hour – and it was 1,300 incidents higher than in the previous 12 months.
Despite the number of thefts, only 169 suspects were charged in the year, and seven were let off with a caution.
Police data also showed 61,000 of victims were female and just under 48,000 were male, with the remainder not recorded.
Londoners could now be forced to pick up the bill as Sir Sadiq Khan targets tax increases to try and battle phone thefts in the capital.
The mayor has proposed raising the average Band D bill by more than £20, meaning the amount of council tax the City Hall receives will exceed £500 per bill for the first time.
Sir Sadiq said he was taking the 'difficult decision' to raise council tax to 'smash the phone theft gang'.
The amount of council tax City Hall receives for an average Band D property would increase from £490.38 in to £510.51 in 2026-27 under the new proposals.
The draft budget announced by Sir Sadiq will need to be approved by the London Assembly next month.
Campaigner Dr Lawrence Newport previously said London was in the midst of a 'phone theft epidemic'
He added: ‘Our politicians need to wake up to reality: they need to stop this epidemic, and push our justice system to catch, convict and imprison these career criminals.
‘Half of all crime is committed by just 10 per cent of offenders, meaning only a small number of career criminals are committing most phone thefts.’