A surveillance video in Mexico City’s Polanco neighborhood was a silent witness to a lightning-fast theft in which a robber knocked down a patron outside an ice cream parlor and made off with the man’s US $15,000 Rolex watch.

The 16-second video of the attack, which occurred early Sunday afternoon at the parlor’s entrance, recently went viral on social media.

The victim, who authorities said was a Canadian, can be seen from the parlor’s employee surveillance video as the theft occurs just outside the parlor’s wide-open doorway. The thief, dressed in a button-down white shirt and slacks and wearing a sanitary mask, approached and grabbed his victim from behind, pulled him in close with a gun pointed at him and then knocked the man down. While the victim was splayed on the sidewalk, the thief removed the Rolex from his victim’s wrist and fled the scene.

Police said the victim sustained a blow to the head.

Authorities said the stolen watch was a Rolex Datejust 41 Wimbledon and that the victim told them it was worth $15,000.

Source: Excélsior (sp)