Instant ‘karma’ for faceplanting thief who stole Nanaimo business’ sign

A Nanaimo, B.C., business is having a bit of a laugh at the instant “karma” meted out to a pair of intoxicated thieves.

The comeuppance was captured on NYLA Fresh Thread’s security cameras on Monday, when two men stole the retailer’s 100-pound sign.

“At 2 a.m. after the bars let out there was a couple of guys that were stumbling down the sidewalk, and helped me ‘uninstall’ my sign for me,” owner Leon Drzewiecki told Global News.

In the video, the two men can be seen taking turns climbing on each others’ shoulders as they work to tear the sign off its moorings.

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As one of the men yanks the sign’s final fastener free, he falls from the other man’s shoulders and does a faceplant into the sidewalk.

“I thought it was quite comedic, I giggled every time I watched it,” Drzewiecki said.

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Drzewiecki edited the footage to replay the faceplant multiple times, with the text “karma hit hard right here” to a comical music soundtrack and posted it on social media, where it’s since gone viral.

More than 600,000 people have watched it on Instagram, while more than 300,000 have viewed it on TikTok.

“It’s been really fun so far … seeing numbers come in,” he said.

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Drzewiecki said workers with the port authority found the sign the following morning and returned it. He said he didn’t bother to report the incident to police since the sign came back, and given the RCMP are already busy with more serious files.

He said along with the comedic value, the incident has come with a silver lining amid the economic hangover from the pandemic and inflation.

“Our online store has picked up quite a bit since then and we have seen a lot more foot traffic in the store, too.”

Drzewiecki said the business has since reaffixed the sign with a more sturdy fastening.