Poll: Is this epic ice cream heist at an NHL game staged or real?

A crafty thief made off with a vanilla ice cream cone at Monday night’s Senators-Hurricanes game, and the footage of the daring heist has gone viral. During a live report on Fox Sports South, fans noticed that a man wearing a white Hurricanes jersey swiped another man’s cone while he was distracted by a third person’s phone. The thief took a mouthful of ice cream and attempted to replace the cone, but then fled the scene.

The biggest question we have here, as with any viral video, is whether or not the events were real or staged. First, the evidence:

The case for this moment being staged:

If you pay close attention to the replay, the victim’s arm moves slightly when the ice cream thief removes the cone from the cup. You can make a strong argument that the victim should have noticed something was happening to his ice cream. The victim’s arm position is also questionable. The ice cream is being held away from the body, and is tilted slightly away from the owner. You’re almost inviting an ice cream thief with that cone position. When the victim finally notices that his ice cream has been swiped, he makes the puzzling decision to turn to the right, and look over his non-ice-cream-holding shoulder. This turn gives the thief a chance to try and replace the cone. This face, post-heist: If your ice cream suddenly went missing, you wouldn’t be smiling.

The case for this moment being an actual crime:

I want to believe.