Police catch serial lingerie thief by fitting bra with GPS tracker

Dutch police appealing for women with missing underwear to come forward

Garments stolen from balcony washing line (Getty/iStock)

Police in the Netherlands have seized a serial underwear thief after attaching a tracking device to a woman’s bra.

Detectives in the eastern town of Hengelo had the idea after a woman reported some lingerie had been snatched from her balcony washing line.

Initially believing a boy had stolen the garments as a joke, the victim became unnerved when someone left a bunch of flowers, without any message, on her doorstep.

Officers installed some surveillance cameras outside her home, according to Dutch public broadcaster RTV Oost.

But the authorities failed to capture a good photo of the suspect when he returned to the balcony to steal more undergarments.

Investigating officer Thomas Hamhuis then decided to stuff a GPS transmitter inside one of the woman’s brassieres as “bait,” according to police spokesperson Chantal Westerhoff.

The method had previously been used successfully by the Hengelo force to catch as serial bike thief in the town.

When the underwear thief struck yet again, the tracking device led them to the home of the suspected serial offender.

Officers found a bag full of lingerie at the property. The unidentified man was arrested, and police are now appealing for other possible victims to come forward.

“He and the victim do not know each other. He is known to the police, but not because of sex offences,” explained Ms Westerhoff.

“We are looking for women, probably in Hengelo, who have lost lingerie.”

Last year Chinese authorities had to hire trucks to remove tens of thousands of women’s bras and panties from the home of a thief in Jiangxi province.

The man admitted to police he had been stealing the lingerie for 10 years.