Shoe thief

In western Germany, women who like their heels on the high side can let out a collective sigh of relief. A man who forcefully removed women's shoes from their owner's feet to satisfy what is apparently a fetish for female footwear is currently cooling his heels in police custody.

The suspect arrested by police on Saturday, is likely to bring to an end a series of shoe robberies which began in 2008.

Nine victims

The 27-year-old man, identified in the press only as Peter A., is accused of stealing the shoes of nine women while they were actually still wearing them.

His modus operandi was simple and sometimes somewhat painful for his victims, however comically the crimes have been reported in the local press.

He would seek out a woman wearing high heels, sneak up behind her, shove her to the ground, then snatch the shoes off her feet before running off with them. His victims, suffering from shock and grazed hands and knees as well as having been left bare-footed, were in no position to give chase.

Stiletto stealer

The man was dubbed the "Stiletto Stealer from Troisdorf" (or more literally and prosaically the shoe stealer or Pumps Raueber in German) because he committed six such robberies around the small town situated near Bonn. He then widened his beat to include Leverkusen, Cologne and even the metro station near Deutsche Welle headquarters in Bonn.

Professor Dirk Zimmer of the Tuebingen Academy of Behavioral Therapy says that shoe fetishism or "retifism," is the result of some kind of sexual repression in childhood.

It is not known whether Peter A. tuned into the annual stiletto sprint race which was run in Berlin on Saturday. It was won by 18-year-old Julia Plecher, who was awarded €10,000 for running 100 metres in 14.2 seconds.

But police have said the shoe-robber has since offered a "partial confession" of his crimes.

td/ap/dpa

Editor: Kyle James