Hapless Mauricio Fierro then appeared on local television news in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he bemoaned the levels of crime in his city and revealed he had actually stolen the vehicle the previous day.

The bizarre sequence of events started when Fierro, nicknamed El Pepita, parked in front of a pharmacy and left the engine running so he could quickly flee with his ill-gotten gains.

adwinhn via YouTube

Incredible CCTV footage shows the moment a criminal went to rob a pharmacy — but ended up having his getaway car and bounty stolen by other thieves.

But, as he was collecting the cash, the surveillance footage shows another thief sprinting over to the vehicle and making off in it.

Carrying a bag of money, Fierro exits from the shop only to find his escape car is no longer there and, whilst he is looking around, another man runs by and grabs his loot and makes off.

Angry that he had been robbed, he went to the police station to report the crime. But when he was there, he bumped into the pharmacy owner whom he had just robbed.

Police arrested him on the spot, and then allowed a local television news crew into the station for an interview, reports the website que.es.

Speaking to reporters, he moaned about the “insecurity” of the city and that he had not been able to enjoy his car, which had cost him “a lot of blood, sweat and tears” to attain.

But when asked if he had bought it, he revealed he had in fact stolen it the day before.

He said: “These days violence is so great that one comes and robs another who is even more poor than him. We can’t even live a dishonest life anymore.”

– NY Daily News