David Copperfield works a little magic with thieves

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2006

MIAMI (AFP) — Magician David Copperfield was assaulted after a show in West Palm Beach, Florida, last weekend, but with a little sleight of hand he managed to hold on to his belongings, reports said.

Four young men in a vehicle approached the magician and two female companions Sunday, and at gunpoint stole cash from one of the women and a wallet and cellular phone from the other woman, a West Palm Beach police report said.

When one thief tried to snatch Copperfield's wallet, he used an old trick, pulling out his trouser pockets as if they were empty when in fact they held his wallet, cell phone and passport, The Palm Beach Post reported.

"Call it reverse pickpocketing. I had a gun pointed at my head from 6 inches away," he told the newspaper. "I'm pretty...