Thief caught after lifting cardboard box off head to check stolen loot

The robber was using a cardboard box to try and cover his face (Picture: NBC Miami)

A thief was caught on CCTV stealing thousands of pounds worth of phones as he tried to cover his face with a cardboard box.

But he bungled his getaway as he lifted the box to get a better look at the loot – revealing his face to cameras.

The bizarre incident happened at around 4 am on Saturday at the Irepair store in Miami.

The thief initially got away with 19 iPhones and $8,000 in cash – with a total value of $15,000, according to NBC.

Having collected the footage, the store’s owner, Jeremias Berganza, found the thief hours later drinking at a liquor store and called the police, who arrested the man.

In the footage, the thief smashes the top of a glass cabinet before he starts rifling through the phones and stashing them in his bag.

Due to the position of the CCTV camera, it was not possible to make out his face until for a moment when he lifted up the box to get a better look at the phones he was taking.

Berganza said he shared images from the theft with people working in the shopping centre where the store is and asked for people to look out for the thief.

Just a few hours later Berganza found the thief drinking at a liquor store and called the police, who arrested the man.

Authorities have not released the suspect’s name or more information about the robbery.

Credit: metro