US mom of eight goes viral as she yanks alleged Venice pickpocket by ponytail to demand her stolen passport and AirPods back

A woman from North Carolina went viral as she caught an alleged Venice pickpocket. Her daughter, Karis McElroy, shared the video on her TikTok.

In it, the woman is seen yanking the alleged pickpocket's hair while she screams. Karis McElroy shared the story in a TikTok, saying her mother and stepfather went to Venice and then planned to go on a Mediterranean cruise.

As they walked on the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy, the woman noticed that three girls were reportedly crowding around her and "slowing her down." When she reached her Airbnb, which was near the bridge, she noticed that her purse was missing from her book bag.

The purse had her passport, credit cards, cash, AirPods, and a metal water bottle.

The North Carolina woman and her husband then tracked her purse using the AirPods and located the three girls. She then caught the girls when they were holding her purse.

She grabbed one girl by her ponytail while her friend stayed. The other girl fled with the purse.

Karis McElroy's TikTok video showed that the alleged pickpocket was screaming when Karis's mother stated that she had eight kids, and the screaming would not work on her.

North Carolina woman yanks the hair of a young pickpocket in Venice, Italy, causing the suspected thief to have a screaming MELTDOWN.

The mother of 8 tracked down the suspect by using the ‘Find My’ app to locate the missing AirPods and her passport.
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More details on the alleged Venice pickpocket

Karis McElroy shared in her update video that the Airbnb host and police officers arrived at the scene, and the owners of a nearby jewelry shop stayed there supporting her mother.

The alleged pickpocket's friend, who was with the girl, then reportedly hit McElroy's mother with her cloth bag. The American woman then realized that her stolen metal water bottle was in the bag.

She was injured and bleeding, and the locals helped to clean up the blood. Karis's mother had to get stitches at the hospital.

"My mom had a massive gash on her head, and it was bleeding everywhere. She got a black eye from it, and the girls were arrested. And then my mom had to go to the hospital and get some stitches," the TikToker said.

At the time, her stepfather was tracking the purse. The girl who fled with it hopped on a train and went to the Venice airport. She left the purse at the US liaison office.

The local police then notified North Carolina police, saying they had the woman's passport. The North Carolina police arrived at her home and informed the neighbors, who then contacted Karis's stepfather, that his wife's passport was at the airport.

Karis McElroy shared that her mother got the passport and credit cards back. However, the alleged pickpockets took her cash and AirPods.

She mentioned that the locals were very helpful, and the jewelry shop owner even gifted her a necklace.

Italian outlet Il Messaggero reported that the alleged pickpocketing girls were infamous in the area, and the girl in the video was let out on bail after two days because she is 14.

Karis McElroy shared that her parents are currently on the Mediterranean cruise. Her original TikTok garnered three million views and 400,000 likes on the social media platform.