Canadian tourist goes to remarkable lengths to catch Brussels laptop thieves

A Canadian whose laptop was stolen at Brussels-Midi station went to remarkable lengths to track down the thieves who stole his laptop, and shared his experience in a viral TikTok video.

The laptop was stolen on 18 August at about 21.30 when 33-year-old Tony Aubé's bookbag was snatched.

The victim was then able to geolocate his laptop, according to the Brussels public prosecutor's office, tracing it to a building in Molenbeek.

According to the victim, the police then explained to him that there was nothing they could do, as the location could not be used to determine which apartment the stolen laptop was in.

But the next morning, the Canadian was able to geolocate his computer at another address, in Jette. He decided to go there and wait for several hours until the thieves came out of a squat that they were occupying.

@tony.aube Replying to @user3011651726558 how I got the thieves who stole my computer arrested. Don’t mess with me#karma #revenge #truecrime #satisfying #greenscreenvideo #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Tony Aubé

He then followed them to a second-hand electronics shop and, without making contact with the thieves, alerted the police.

The police entered the squat and discovered not only the stolen laptop, but also hundreds of smartphones, computers and iPads.

The laptop was returned to the victim and the other items were seized in an attempt to trace and return them to their owners.

One person was arrested at the squat site but then released after being questioned by the police. The investigation is ongoing.