Cellphone burglar sits in police station

A series of unlikely coincidences ended up with police collaring a skillful burglar allegedly guilty of stealing 200 cellphones in five separate raids of South China stores.

The 24-year-old confessed to selling all the phones to pay for the complete works by famous writer Lu Xun and planned to go to Tibet to "clean his mind."

Police arrested him on his birthday at a hotel in Kunming, Yunnan province, after recognizing him from a video surveillance tape of a December 24 theft.

The reason they recognized him was his recent visit to the police station to meet his brother who was making a victim statement to police.

In fact, his brother had been acting as lookout when a passer-by, pretending to be a cop, demanded to see his case.

The startled 19-year-old obeyed. The cunning con artist grabbed an Apple 5S phone out of the bag and tried to run off.

As they fought, a police car showed up. Both men were taken off for interrogation. The burglar called his brother and went to the station.

Police recognized the thief weeks later.