Montrealer details alleged pickpocketing caught on camera; TikTok video gets almost 7 million views

A Montreal musician who believes she was pickpocketed at a local cafe has taken her case public in a viral video detailing the alleged incident.

"We will find you. TikTok will find you," said songwriter Nicole Arrage.

The video has garnered more than 6.8 million views on the social media platform so far.

• WATCH: Montrealer details alleged pickpocketing incident caught on security camera

On Monday, April 11, Arrage had worn a puffy blue coat with pockets that snap closed with a click.

"I made sure I clicked both buttons," she said – one of many details from that day that she’s gone over several times.

She'd later have to give those details to police. She believes she was robbed by a talented pickpocket, who made away with her expensive tech and credit card.

She had draped that coat over the back of her chair at an Outremont cafe. Security footage from that day shows a tall man walking in, buying a coffee and sitting down behind her.

Alleged pickpocketing incident in Montreal (image: Nicole Arrage)
Arrage used the footage to narrate a TikTok video, detailing how the alleged thief seemed to grab her valuables.

"I made eye contact with him," she said. “Immediately, I had a weird vibe from this guy."

After several sips from his mug, he put his hand back through the sleeve of his jacket for a few seconds. What happened next is guarded from the camera’s view.

"He's got his hand in my pocket," Arrage claimed in the video she posted to social media.

In a viral video, Nicole Arrage details how the man allegedly grabbed her phone and wallet (image: Nicole Arrage)
After the man walked out, she said, "we were about to leave, (I went to get) my phone, and I'm like 'oh my God, it’s not there,'" she added. "The pocket was open."

"It was such a shock," she said. “I felt this feeling of emptiness.”

She asked cafe staff for help, and they gave her the security footage.

"I feel so grateful," Arrage said of the cafe owner. "He stopped working to sit with me."

"I feel violated," said Darren Johnston, who owns Cafe DAX. "It’s my business. We want to harbour a safe environment."

Johnston said he had never seen the man Arrage believes stole from her in the cafe before. He told CTV he takes security extremely seriously for his clients, and for the shelves stocked with expensive wine.

He told staff to watch out for the alleged thief, but if he did steal her phone, he doesn’t expect him to come back.

After she left the restaurant, she filed a police report, and told the bank her card was stolen.

She said the thief made some purchases before she moved to cancel the card – a few hundred dollars at a grocery store and a gas station.

Money is one thing, but Arrage is also mourning the many recordings on her phone.

"I have all this audio of future songs and music that I’ve been writing for the future," she said. "That means so much to me."

"Hope you will get it all back," wrote one commenter. "So sorry this happened to you," wrote another.

Nicole Arrage said she wanted to expose the tactics used by the alleged pickpocketer.
If she can’t get her phone back, she hopes at least the video will inspire others to take precautions against theft.

"Now, all the future pickpockets can’t even use that tactic anymore, because it’s been exposed," she said.

She said she does hope that whoever took her phone gets caught, but she told CTV she’s not sure yet if she wants to press charges.

"He doesn’t need to cause harm to other people," she said. "At the end of the day, we’re all the same and we all deserve to be respected."

"I would love for him to seek help, and to understand his actions, and how they can really hurt someone."