The suspect was finally apprehended by the Milan subway police. Photo: Screenshot from Douyin

With the "Hercules" friend prying open subway doors bare-handed, the "sprinter" friend chasing, and assistance from multiple sides, the Chinese student's phone was successfully recovered.

According to the video posted by the Chinese student, while she and her two friends were taking the Milan subway, her phone was stolen the moment the subway doors closed. 

Immediately, one companion forcefully pried open the subway doors by hand, and the other sprinted to pursue the thief. During the chase, they encountered Milan subway police at the station entrance, and the police joined them, according to a Hangzhou Daily report.

The group continuously tracked and identified suspects across subway lines, repeatedly losing sight of the thief, becoming disoriented, and even mistaking others along the way, making the process challenging.  

Just as they were about to give up, the student suddenly spotted the thief and resumed the chase. A helpful Milanese passerby tripped the thief, and with police assistance, they finally apprehended the suspect and recovered the stolen phone.

Reflecting on the experience afterward, the student described it as a close call with a stroke of luck, saying that it felt like a dream. "Without encountering those Milan police officers, without my two friends—one acting as a "Hercules" prying open subway doors, another as a "sprinter" chasing 800 meters—and my own "eagle-eyed" quick identification, I never would have gotten my phone back."  

The student made this phone recovery experience a short video and posted it on short-video platform Douyin, where it quickly went viral, gaining over 2.83 million likes. Netizens commented that the trio possessed "a bear's strength, eagle's eyes, and cheetah's speed," while others praised the Milan police.  

Global Times