History Main / PercussivePickpocket

* In ''Recap/TintinTheSecretOfTheUnicorn'', this is the pickpocket's default MO.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem 8, the Sacred Stones'': Colm bumps into Eirika during one cutscene and steals her [[MacGuffin Lunar Bracelet]]. Eirika doesn't quite realize what happened until after Colm has escaped.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'': The pickpocket in the 2011 movie.

** Arc Villain Shane Casey uses this trope to sneak a cell phone *into* Mac's pocket in "Raising Shane."

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Look After Annie", Bodie bumps into a {{Blackshirt}} leader, then moments later Doyle flashes his warrant card and searches him, finding a small packet of drugs.

* A sci-fi version occurs in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Random Thoughts". On a planet of telepaths where there's a black market for violent thoughts, someone bumps into [[HotTempered B'Elanna Torres]] and 'steals' her instinctive mental response, which is to imagine herself punching him in the face.

* A sci-fi version occurs in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Random Thoughts". On a planet of telepaths where there's a black market for violent thoughts, someone bumps into [[{{Tsundere}} B'Elanna Torres]] and 'steals' her instinctive mental response, which is to imagine herself punching him in the face.

* ''Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries'': "Voodoo Doll" has the Hardy Boys wandering the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. As they're distracted by the parades, the camera focuses on a passing woman moving through the crowd & deliberately bumping into them, lifting both brothers' wallets and walking away. It takes the Hardys a few seconds to realize their wallets are gone, and when they try to chase the woman, she's vanished into a nearby bar, kicking off the plot & getting the Hardys involved in TheVillain's plot against a visiting ambassador.

* ''Film/TheArtOfTheSteal'': While arguing with Crunch on the street, Nicky bumps into a pedestrian and lifts his wallet. When Crunch asks him why he is still doing that pennyante stuff, Nicky claims it is just to keep his later. A few seconds later, he does it to a 12-year old girl and Crunch loses it.

** Another variant occurs in the movie, when Spike slips a listening device into Electra's pocket while fighting her.

* In ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent'' storyline from the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' franchise, Lois Lane steals a policeman's radio phone using this technique when she was on the run in Metropolis, and uses the phone to get in touch with "Terrible" Turpin.

* In ''Film/MyBlueHeaven'', Creator/SteveMartin's character Vinnie, an ex-mobster, warns two boys about it at a baseball game. One of the boys waves his wallet while calling the hotdog vendor, and Vinnie tells him not to wave it, because a pickpocket will watch where he puts it. Vinnie then demonstrates, bumping into the boy and handing his wallet back a moment later.
* In the beginning of ''Film/{{Payback}}'', the Porter has just recovered from his wounds and is out on the streets with no money. He spots a man with a passing resemblance to him so he bumps into the man to steal the man's wallet. Porter not only takes the cash but also uses the man's ID to make a number of fraudulent credit card purchases.

** ''Series/{{Crusade}}'': Happens to Max. Dureena recovers it, and tells Max that the pickpocket was clumsy, which is the only reason she took it back.

** In the second season episode where they face off against a team of rival counterparts, Parker and the other team's master thief get into a competition doing this to the owner of the auction house. Unfortunately, between the two of them they get a little too aggressive and steal so many things from him in such a short amount of time that he notices (his pockets are suddenly empty, his watch is gone, and his security badge is no longer attached to his jacket) and immediately closes the public viewing, doubles security, and puts the police on alert about a potential pending break-in.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Widdershins}}'', Sydney and the King of Thieves have the misfortune to do this to ''each other''. The King of Thieves snag's Sydney's wallet, and Sydney's curse activates, stealing the King's mark and making ''him'' the new King, all without even knowing!

* Felix does this in ''Film/TheFiftyFirstState'' to a lawyer, in a police station no less. He does it under the guise of being a confrontational ass, but he gets the key to a really nice car.

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* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'':
** Spike lets the bad guy Asimov bump him (actually grab and start to strangle him) in order to steal a vial of the drugs Asimov was carrying.
** And in another case, he slips the current bad guy's ''bioweapon vial'' into her own pocket, resulting in it [[ChekhovsGun breaking open in a later scene]] and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard taking her out]] just as she [[OhCrap realizes what happened]].
** Another variant occurs in the movie, when Spike slips a listening device into Electra's pocket while fighting her.

* In ''ComicBook/BakerStreet'' #2, Sharon collides with a constable and lifts his keys off him, which she tosses to Domino, who is handcuffed in the back of a police car.
* ''ComicBook/TheOracleCode'': Babs bumps into one of the therapists in order to steal their employee I.D. card.

* In the ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' short Loco Boy Makes Good, Curly manages to lift $50 and a pocket watch off a debt collector harassing the elderly owner of a hotel in renovations.

* In ''Film/ShootOutAtMedicineBend'', Devlin uses a staged collision with Sanders to lift his wallet, and then a second one to plant it on Walters.
* In ''Film/RobinHood2018'', Tuck collides with Lord Pemberton and spills a drink on him, using the opportunity to lift his keys at the same time.
* In ''Film/LaughterInParadise'', Captain Russell shoplifts several strings of pearls in [[GetIntoJailFree an attempt to get arrested]]. As he is headed for the door, he is accosted by a pair of pickpockets: one of whom bumps into him and apologises profusely while the other picks his pocket. Captain Russell is nabbed by the store detectives who search him but cannot find the pearls. When Captain Russell checks his own pockets, he discovers that the pickpockets have stolen not only the pearls but also his wallet.

* ''Fraternity of the Stone'' by David Morrell. The protagonist wants to be a spy like his CoolUncle, who gets a Hong Kong StreetUrchin to teach him this technique. In order to graduate, he has to rob the urchin without him noticing. As a distraction, he hires another urchin to throw a fruit at his head.

* ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Take a Thief]]'' refers to a two-person version of this as the "shake and snatch". The "shaker" bumps into the mark (fairly hard) on the street, the "snatcher" pickpockets the mark while helping him catch his balance.
* In "The Man Who Was Clever", a mysterious stranger collides with Jerry Stannard in the street, mere seconds before one of UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard collars him for drug trafficking. No one is more astonished than Jerry when the bobbies find nothing on him. Of course, Jerry is eternally grateful when the pickpocket who relieved him of a package of pure cocaine reveals himself to be [[Franchise/TheSaint Simon Templar]].
* ''Literature/OliverTwist'': Happens to Fagin when he runs into a gang of young pickpockets.

* A lowlife tries this on Hawke in the first act of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. He's not very good at it. Hawke notices immediately, and Varric pins the pickpocket to a wall with a crossbow bolt before telling him just how bad he is at stealing from people.
* The Thief in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsChroniclesOfMystara'' can pickpocket enemies by dashing into them, causing them to drop a small random item (usually a low-value gem).

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': A pair of Bothans pull this stunt on Wedge Antilles and Corran Horn in ''[[Literature/HandOfThrawn Vision of the Future]]'', with one of them doing the bumping and grabbing while the other distracts the marks by loudly berating his companion's clumsiness. Corran, a former police officer, is naturally suspicious of the incident but doesn't realize what happened until a little too late (and is incredibly embarrassed at having fallen for it).

* Meparik and Crislie’s first meeting in ''Literature/HeraldsOfRhimn]], unbeknownst to Crislie until later, when she notices her missing wallet. Cue Meparik lamenting how few coins she had on her in the next chapter.
* In ''The Twisted Thing'', Literature/MikeHammer gets TheGlomp from the murderer, who takes the opportunity to [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets remove the magazine from his Colt automatic]].

* In "The Man Who Was Clever", a mysterious stranger collides with Jerry Stannard in the street, mere seconds before one of UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard collars him for drug trafficking. No one is more astonished than Jerry when the bobbies find nothing on him. Of course, Jerry is eternally grateful when the pickpocket who relieved him of a package of pure cocaine reveals himself to be [[Franchise/TheSaint Simon Templar]].

* ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Take a Thief]]'' refers to a two-person version of this as the "shake and snatch". The "shaker" bumps into the mark (fairly hard) on the street, the "snatcher" pickpockets the mark while helping him catch his balance.

* In ''Webcomics/{{Widdershins}}'', Sydney and the King of Thieves have the misfortune to do this to ''each other''. The King of Thieves snag's Sydney's wallet, and Sydney's curse activates, stealing the King's mark and making ''him'' the new King, all without even knowing!

* In ''Webcomics/{Widdershins}'', Sydney and the King of Thieves have the misfortune to do this to ''each other''. The King of Thieves snag's Sydney's wallet, and Sydney's curse activates, stealing the King's mark and making ''him'' the new King, all without even knowing!

A {{subtrope}} of FiveFingerDiscount. Compare to AffectionatePickpocket, where contact with the mark is achieved in a [[DistractedByTheSexy more forward manner]]. Also compare to ShakeSomeoneObjectsFall, where the action is more aggressive but the intent isn't necessarily ''to'' steal the fallen objects.

A {{subtrope}} of FiveFingerDiscount. Compare to AffectionatePickpocket, where contact with the mark is achieved in a [[DistractedByTheSexy more forward manner]].

* An episode of ''Series/{{CSINY}}'''s ColdOpening has Mac catching a pickpocket (who manages to hide his stash before they grab him) just before running into the VictimOfTheWeek. [[spoiler:They later find a security camera video of said pickpocket bumping into their suspect and realise that he stole a camera with vital evidence on it.]]

* Inverted in ''Series/BetterCallSaul''. Jimmy's brother Chuck claims to have a condition called electromagnetic hypersensitivity, giving him an adverse reaction to electric devices. In reality, this is a mental illness and sufferers can't actually distinguish when they're being exposed to electricity. To demonstrate this to a court, Jimmy has a pickpocket bump into Chuck to ''give'' him an item: a phone battery, placed right in his breast pocket, which Chuck doesn't even notice until Jimmy points it out to him in front of the entire room.

* Subverted in ''Series/BetterCallSaul''. Jimmy's brother Chuck claims to have a condition called electromagnetic hypersensitivity, giving him an adverse reaction to electric devices. In reality, this is a mental illness and sufferers can't actually distinguish when they're being exposed to electricity. To demonstrate this to a court, Jimmy has a pickpocket bump into Chuck to ''give'' him an item: a phone battery, placed right in his breast pocket, which Chuck doesn't even notice until Jimmy points it out to him in front of the entire room.