Crossword Genius

Thief is person in charge around street (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rustler

'thief' is the definition.
(rustler is a kind of thief)

'person in charge around street' is the wordplay.
'person in charge' becomes 'ruler' (I've seen this before).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'street' becomes 'st'.
'ruler' enclosing 'st' is 'RUSTLER'.

'is' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for rustler that I've seen before include "He stole cattle in the old west" , "Cattle-robber" , "One who takes livestock" , "Cattle-thief" , "person taking stock" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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