Reverse pickpocketing?

David Copperfield pulls magic trick during mugging

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — David Copperfield has magically escaped getting robbed.
The 49-year-old illusionist was walking with two female assistants to their tour bus after his show Sunday at a performing arts center when four teens pulled up in a black car, a police report said.

Two armed robbers allegedly got out of the car and demanded the group's belongings. One woman handed over $400 from her pockets and the other gave up her purse with 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a cell phone. Copperfield refused to empty his pockets, the report said.

Copperfield says he turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing in them, even though he was carrying his passport, wallet and cell phone. "Call it reverse pickpocketing," Copperfield told The Palm Beach Post for Wednesday's editions.

Copperfield read the license plate number of the car to an assistant while she called 911, the report said. Four teenagers were arrested and charged with armed robbery. They were held without bond, police said. The women's property was recovered.

'Reverse pickpocketing'? Wouldn't 'reverse pickpocketing' mean putting something into a pocket that wasn't there in the first place? Shouldn't 'DC' have magically made rabbits appear from the assailants pockets rather than lamely hiding his own valuables?

In fact, DC comes across a bit badly here. Note how he allows his female assistants get robbed and then reserves the magic to save his own possessions. Paul Daniels would not have been so lacking in chivalry. Paul would have distracted the muggers with the 'sawing a woman in half' trick and then, while dialling 911 and waiting for the police to arrive, wowed the dastardly criminals with a flashy card trick. By the time the prospective felons had realised their card was indeed the 9 of Hearts the local police would have the perps safely in their clutches.

The Home Office could do with an eye-catching initiative right now though. Why not train community police officers to pass on to the public the skills of David Coppefield's 'reverse pickpocketing'? Of course, putting all those released prisoners back in a box might be a bit more difficult but, who knows, maybe David could help out with that too?