Brave man tracks down phone thief on his motorbike and returns stolen item to owner

This extraordinary video shows a man from Argentina track down a phone thief on his motorbike, retrieve the stolen item and return it to the owner, in a matter of minutes.

The incident, which was recorded on Manuel Villanueva's helmet camera, shows the suspect running away from the scene, Manuel, 32, chasing him and eventually the phone being returned to its owner.

Manuel, a delivery man from Buenos Aires, was riding around the capital on his motorbike when he heard a woman screaming and spotted a man sprinting away.

“This guy robbed someone” Manuel is heard saying in the video, before following the suspect.

The thief sees the helmeted man following him and throws the phone away as Manuel shouts at him “That’s right, run away, run away”.

Manuel picks up the phone and tracks down the owner by asking bystanders who witnessed the incident.

He finally finds the owner, who had jumped on a bus.

As he blocks pull over in front of the bus, he asks “Did someone steal from a chick in there?, tell her I’ve got her phone, I got it back for her.”

He then climbs on the bus, to a very grateful woman and thunderous applause.

“I didn’t really think of the consequences of my actions,” Manuel said, explaining why he went after the thief, “I just went after him and he threw the phone away."

Speaking after the incident, Manuel said “I didn’t think about it in the moment in retrospect I thought about the danger, but I think I’d do it again”.

“I told my partner first, they were happy, but also worried about what could have happened. Luckily there was a happy ending this time”

It’s not strange to see, in Buenos Aires, according to Manuel: “Like any big city, it’s complicated, you often see odd situations and more dangerous robberies”

Moments like this, and the heartwarming moments shown before in the video, where Manuel stops to stroke a stray cat and offer help to an old man, are exactly what he looks for.

“It’s the second time I’ve seen something like this,” He told us, “In the streets you get to see anything, lots of good stuff as well, luckily, that’s what I try to show in my vlog. Riding around the city all day you see so much, and I like to show my point of view”