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Read the press release here.

Pickpockets Posed As Bellboys At Swanky Hotel, Nabbed Doctor's Wallet

 A California doctor says a crew of pickpockets posing as bellhops robbed him in the entryway at the LondonHouse Hotel, 85 E. Wacker Drive.
A California doctor says a crew of pickpockets posing as bellhops robbed him in the entryway at the LondonHouse Hotel, 85 E. Wacker Drive.
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DNAinfo

DOWNTOWN — A coordinated group of pickpockets posing as bellboys swiped a tourist's wallet inside a swanky hotel at Michigan and Wacker, and now he's warning others to watch out.

Gibbe Parsons, a retired doctor from California, was stopping by the LondonHouse Hotel when the crew of thieves picked his pockets June 9. 

"They did a very slick job on me," said Parsons, 74. "This happened so fast I thought they were hotel staff."

The ruse began when one thief rolled a luggage cart up to Parsons in the hotel's entryway. A second man then knelt down in front of Parsons and grabbed the crease in his right pant leg.

"'Snap' like he was getting dust off the trousers or something," Parsons said.

With Parsons' attention elsewhere, a third man then draped a jacket over Parsons' back and took his wallet. 

"And then these guys evaporate," Parsons said. 

Parsons' bank activity showed the pickpockets quickly went to the nearby Target store on State Street, where they racked up more than $2,000 in charges. They bought $48 in gasoline on another credit card, and also took Parson's driver's license, a copy of his medical license and about $200 cash he had in his wallet.  

The pickpockets were not dressed as LondonHouse bellhops, but they worked efficiently enough that Parsons was convinced they were.

"They are very practiced, very professional," he said. "They will keep doing this until someone stops them."

Surveillance footage showed the thieves wore street clothes and ball caps, Parsons said. 

Officer Laura Amezaga, a police spokeswoman, said Parsons filed a deceptive practice report at 8:46 p.m. June 9. Parsons reported four suspects, who remain at large, she said. 

A spokeswoman for the hotel at 85 E. Wacker Drive declined to provide surveillance footage to DNAinfo, but said in a statement that its staff is on "high alert" watching for pickpockets and other criminals.

"This was the first (and only) time this has happened at the hotel and the team takes guest safety very seriously," the spokeswoman said in an email. "It’s unfortunate that the incident happened at all but as you know, pickpockets exist across the world and tend to target public locations, such as busy streets."