MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian mugger stole a woman's cake as she walked by, then asked the victim to call police so he could go back to prison, Russian media reported on Tuesday.

A police spokeswoman in Krasnoyarsk, 4400 km (2700 miles) east of Moscow, said the motives for the crime were unclear, but that when police arrived on the scene the attacker told them he just wanted to return to jail, Russian agency RIA reported.

After checking the arrested man's documents, police learned the mugger had recently served out a 12-year sentence, the spokeswoman said. Charges carrying a potential jail sentence of three years were brought against the cake thief.

(Reporting by Chris Baldwin; editing by Ralph Boulton)