On a recent weeknight in Bela Vista, the heart of central São Paulo’s nightlife, traffic slowed near a viaduct. In seconds, two figures slipped between lanes, tapped a car window with a tiny cutting tool, snatched a phone, vaulted a barrier, and were gone.

Not far away, another crew hauled coils of cable from an opened street box, the air acrid from burned insulation. These are the two crimes driving Bela Vista’s surge.

Police at the 5th District logged 486 thefts in August—up 57 percent from the same month in 2024—while citywide theft rose 8.8 percent and robberies fell nearly 5 percent.

It’s the shift toward quick, low-contact theft in places where drivers are trapped and escape routes are many. The first pattern is cable theft. Crews scale poles or crack underground covers, strip copper, and sell it to informal scrapyard.

Enel says cable theft incidents fell 42 percent in the first seven months of the year, but they still disrupted service for nearly 20,000 customers; 29 occurred in Bela Vista.

Why Theft Is Surging In São Paulo’s Nightlife Core Bela Vista. (Photo Internet reproduction)

Across Brazil in 2024, there were more than 28,000 cable thefts, costing over R$45 million ($8.49 million), and more than 130 tons of cabling disappeared—most of it in the Southeast.

Bela Vista Crime Wave Tied to Copper Theft and Phone Snatches

For residents and small businesses, that’s hours or days without electricity or internet. The second pattern is “quebra-vidro” phone snatches.

Small groups on foot, bikes, or motorcycles move through stalled traffic, break a side window, grab a device from a dashboard or passenger’s hand, then vanish down side streets or underpasses.

Hotspots cluster around Viaduto Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, Rua Manoel Dutra, and the bar-dense streets near Praça Dom Orione and Rua Treze de Maio.

Authorities say they are hitting both the thieves and the fences. Police report seizing more than 7.2 tons of copper this year, arresting or detaining 31,700 suspects from January to August, and removing 2,300 illegal firearms. Utilities are reinforcing covers and swapping materials to reduce resale value.

The story behind the story is about geography and incentives. Bela Vista’s recipe—crowds, nightlife, stop-and-go traffic, and fast exits via viaducts—creates perfect ambush points and quick getaways, while high copper prices make cables worth the risk.

The fixes are equally specific: unpredictable patrols at the exact choke points where cars must stop, tighter checks on scrap dealers, brighter lighting, and faster repairs to street hardware. That’s how you make a lively neighborhood feel safe again—without dimming its lights.