Karma for bike-riding phone thief as cafe chair hurled at criminal

This is the moment a bike-riding phone thief got his instant comeuppance after a diner hurled a cafe chair at the criminal as he attempted to flee.

The thief had just snatched a phone out of a woman's hands before he attempted to speed past two diners enjoying breakfast outside a cafe.

But one of the diners, having witnessed the theft, got up and threw her chair at the criminal he was getting away.

Footage shows the cyclist sent flying, smashing into a cafe worker before crashing on the pavement after the being hit by the chair.

After hitting the floor, the staff member wearing a white apron is seen running over to the thief before kicking him in the bottom.

The stolen phone is shown dropping on to the floor, before its owner recollects it. 

Passers-by are seen gathering around the criminal following his demise. 

The incident was filmed in the city of Resistencia, Chaco in north eastern Argentina.

The phone snatcher was later identified as Mario César Castillo and is aged 36, according to La Nacion.

A 24-year-old woman was the victim of the theft, the newspaper reported.

Castillo was taken by a police officer to a health centre where his wounds were treated, before being handed over to the legal system.

Phone snatching by thieves on cycles has become a pressing issue in cities across the globe.

In London, where the epidemic shows no signs of abating, criminals circle the capital's exclusive areas on silent e-bikes, before pouncing on victims before they have time to realise what has happened.

Muggers are typically captured seizing devices around the exclusive Mayfair area and along Oxford Street. 

In July, an incident within the Hyde Park hotspot was captured on CCTV footage when an e-bike riding crook in all black crept up behind an unsuspecting man and swiped his phone. 

In another incident in September, a brazen phone snatcher stole a woman's mobile in the middle of the day on Oxford Street before calmly taking off.  

It comes as videos have surfaced online of would-be victims beating the phone thieves by snatching the devices back off them or managing to hold on, sending the e-bike gangs on their way empty handed. 

Among those who managed to beat the thieves is presenter Nicky Campbell who nearly had his phone nicked near Oxford Circus. 

The veteran broadcaster managed to grab his phone back after it was snatched from his hand before shouting 'f*** you' at the thief. 

Met Police figures suggest a mobile phone is stolen in the capital every six minutes last year in a seemingly uncontrollable surge. 

Stolen devices are usually sent abroad to be sold, as shown by people on TikTok who share images of the Find My iPhone app showing their Apple devices travelling to far-flung places.

Emma Hall, 44, whose phone was pinched in Leyton High Street in north London, told MailOnline earlier this year how her phone found itself in Shenzhen - the Asian country's answer to Silicon Valley.