Cops: Thief hid in bag, stole from luggage

MADRID -- A man curled himself up inside a large suitcase that was placed in a bus cargo bay and sneaked out to steal from other people's luggage, police said Thursday.

The man, arrested last week, was 5-foot-10 and very thin, a police official in the northeastern Catalonia region said. An accomplice was also arrested.

The accomplice would place the contortionist thief in the cargo bay of a bus running from the airport in the city of Girona south to Barcelona and board the bus. At the end of the line he would retrieve the suitcase.

During the 60-mile ride, the thin thief would slip out of the suitcase and pick locks or open zippers to get into other people's luggage, police said. He stole cellphones, laptops and GPS devices and placed them in a smaller bag. He then got back into the suitcase and at Barcelona the accomplice would retrieve both pieces of luggage. -- AP