snatch and run

plural snatch and runs

1. attributivefigurativelyoftenAn unsophisticated method of committing robbery by grabbing someone's property and attempting to flee with it.

   Your snatch-and-run Reader, your miserable compiler of 'Beauties' is a mere chattering ape.

   1870, Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, “Essay Critical and Elucidatory on the Poetry of Lord Brooke”, in Alexander B. Grosart, editor, The Works in Verse and Prose Complete of the Right Honourable Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke: […] In Four Volumes, volume II, [s.l.]: Printed for private circulation, →OCLC, page xiv

   4 more examples

   [I]t was doubtful if even the 50% discount that has prevailed for several years could be continued in view of the increasing number of so-called “snatch and run” losses on grade floor premises—few, if any, of which are prevented by burglar alarm systems.

   1922 November 17, Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, volume 9, number 19, New York, N.Y.: Casualty Actuarial Society, →OCLC

   One commonplace theft was the snatch-and-run perpetrated around the central business area by boys or young men. They stole newspapers, boots, pants, coats, shirts, and caps. The shops of the era were cluttered with goods and many had outdoor displays and items hanging from doorways.

   1995, John C. Weaver, “The Enduring Circumstances of Violence and Theft”, in Crimes, Constables, and Courts: Order and Transgression in a Canadian City, 1816–1970, Montreal, Que.; Kingston, Ont.: McGill-Queen's University Press, →ISBN, page 242

   A fine example of this type of situation can be drawn from the US experience in Somalia were locals had perfected the "snatch and run." Crowds of up to 300 thieves would swarm military vehicles, slowed by strategically placed roadblocks, and snatch both personal gear and weapons before disappearing into the crowd.

   1996, Peacekeeping & International Relations, Toronto, Ont.: Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9, column 1

   Till tap […] While store employee has cash drawer open, money is grabbed and the thief flees (snatch and run).

   2012, Kären Matison Hess, Christine Hess Orthmann, Henry Lim Cho, “Crime in the United States: Offenses, Offenders, Victims”, in Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, 10th edition, Clifton Park, N.Y.: Delmar/Cengage Learning, →ISBN, section I (The Evolution of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice), table 3.4 (Forms of Taking and Types of Theft), page 86

   Synonyms: grab and run, snatch and grab