Pickpocket pinched for attempting to steal from 2 off-duty cops sightseeing in Tiananmen Square

A clueless pickpocket was busted while attempting to steal from two off-duty cops during the flag lowering ceremony at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, media reported Wednesday.

The suspect, 47, surnamed Sun, was arrested for suspicion of theft, according to the Dongcheng district prosecuratorate.

Sun felt Beijing's tourists were ripe for the picking when he began casing the square around 4 pm on July 22.

He soon approached a man surnamed Zhao and began unbuttoning his pocket. Little did he know that Zhao happened to be a policeman from Liaoning Province seeing the sights in the capital.

"You have barked up the wrong tree this time. I'm a policeman on patrol for pickpockets," Zhao said.

An altercation ensued, but Sun was released at the scene due to a lack of concrete evidence, said the report.

Sun, however, did not give up and soon marked another tourist with bulging pockets, surnamed Yang.

To Sun's dismay, Yang was an off-duty policeman from Yunnan Province investigating a case in Beijing. Sun was detained at the scene.