The incident happened in the neighbourhood of Prati, in Rome (Picture: Getty)
If there is a moral to this story, it is that reading books could be dangerous -especially if you are supposed to be committing a crime.
This is the lesson for a burglar who got so caught up in a book that he forgot to finish robbing a home in Rome.
The incident happened on Tuesday in the art nouveau district of Prati in the Italian capital, local media reported.
The owner of the house, a 71-year-old man, heard noises coming from a room in the middle of the day.
As he entered the room, the pensioner saw the 38-year-old man leafing through a volume from his shelves.
Stumped by the side of the homeowner, he swiftly stood up and fled the house.
The owner immediately called 112 and alerted some of his neighbours. Police were deployed to the scene not long after.
Officers arrested the man shortly after the attempted theft, but the force has still not named him.
It is understood that he had a bag with some designer clothes inside, but it is not believed he had actually had time to steal anything from the home.
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