Three teenagers were arrested on Tuesday over the theft of a mobile phone and cash from an 18-year-old girl in Macao.

A 16-year-old boy allegedly teamed up with two other teenagers to stake out a park in the early hours of Tuesday morning, snatching the girl's bag containing a mobile phone and 300 Macao patacas (less than US$40) in cash as she chatted to a friend.

The girl phoned police and plain-clothed officers arrived on the scene and arrested the teenagers.

The boys told police that one of them had recently lost his mobile phone and decided to steal himself a new one.

(Macao Daily News )