Security spikes are my Achilles' heel! Burglar is caught after getting impaled through his ankle trying to climb into victim's home

This is the moment a thief’s ankle was pierced by a metal gate as he tried climbing over it to rob a house.

The thief, identified locally as 18-year-old Leonel Lautaro Romero, attempted to burgle the home in San Miguel, Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, by stepping over the top of the spiked gate with a chair. 

But heavy rains that hit the region over the weekend meant his footing was loose, and he slipped as he climbed over, piercing his ankle.  

Gruesome snaps taken at the scene of the crime showed a black metal spike going all the way through the thief’s ankle.

Local media say he lives just around the corner from the house he was allegedly trying to burgle. 

A local resident spotted his plight and called the emergency services. 

Firefighters were then dispatched to the scene and freed Romero by cutting the spike off the top of the gate. 

It is unknown how long he was in the painful position for before he was freed. 

The thief, identified locally as 18-year-old Leonel Lautaro Romero (pictured), attempted to burgle the home in San Miguel

It is unknown how long he was in the painful position for before he was freed

An ambulance also arrived and paramedics treated the teenager before taking him to a local hospital under police custody. 

He has since been discharged, released on bail, and charged with trespassing with criminal intent. Local media reported that he is also under investigation for other crimes. 

Romero wasn’t the only Argentine thief to get his comeuppance. 

Last month, a deli clerk in Argentina sent a knife-wielding bandit fleeing after flashing an even bigger blade at the would-be robber.

Surveillance video showed the suspect walking up to the deli’s cashier counter and pulling out a knife in the northern Patagonia town of Cipolletti.

He is seen flashing the blade and stepping around the corner of the counter before backing away and tucking the knife into his pants.

The suspect then made beeline for the exit when, as the video showed, the satisfied clerk emerged waving a much larger knife with a smile spread across her face.