ROME, Italy (WKRC) – A man reportedly became caught in the middle of an attempted robbery when he stopped to read a book.
The unnamed 38-year-old suspect is said to have broken into the apartment in the Italian capital via a balcony, but was quickly distracted when he was presented with a book about Homer’s Iliad on the bedside table.
The 71-year-old owner of the house (who was there at the time of the break-in) reportedly found the suspect and confronted him, but the suspect was busy burying his nose in the book.
The suspect reportedly attempted to escape via the same balcony he used to enter, but was soon found and arrested.
The author of the book was pleased to hear that his work had caused such a distraction and told the Italian newspaper The Messenger“It’s fantastic. I would love to find the person who was caught red-handed and give them the book because they will have been arrested halfway through reading it. I want them to be able to finish it.”
The newspaper identified the book as “The Gods at Six O’Clock” by Giovanni Nucci.
The suspect claimed he climbed over the balcony to visit a friend who lives in the same building.
“I thought I had landed in a B&B, saw the book and started reading it,” the suspect claimed, according to BBC.
