A gang of four daring Milanese cat-burglars are behind bars after a string of robberies of celebrities they snooped on via social media, according to The Guardian.
The gang, dubbed the 'Acrobat Thieves', monitored their targets' movements on social media app Instagram, waiting until they were away from home, to scale the walls of their apartment blocks and burgle them.
Victims include intern Milan defender Achraf Hakimi, TV presenter Diletta Leotta and an online 'influencer' named Eleonora Incardona.
The four men are aged between 17 and 44, and wore snazzy clothes to blend in with the posh neighbourhoods where they commit their crimes.
A CCTV recording captured one gang member nimbly scaling the outside of a building to rob a first-floor flat while another kept look-out.
“He put on latex gloves and quickly climbed up a pole and towards a window on the first floor, forced it open and entered the home,” said Milan prosecutor Francesca Crupi.
The first thief then opened the door to let in two of his accomplices, who stuffed the victims' valuables into one of their own suitcases before making off with the loot.
Police trace the start of the daredevil crime spree back to June 2020, when €150,000 (£130,000) worth of jewelry, designer handbags, Rolex watches and other goods were stolen from one of Leotta's several homes.
The theft of several watches from Hakimi in November 2020, after his transfer from Borussia Dortmund in September of the same year, were also blamed on the four. Incardona, who has almost half a million followers on Instagram, reportedly lost nine designer handbags, alongside multiple high-fashion garments in a December 2020 burglary.
Police say they have recovered most of the stolen property.