BajaNomad

Home invasion in La Paz: need help from Nomads

roamingthroughbaja - 4-25-2008 at 12:27 PM

On Wednesday afternoon, in Comitan, near La Paz, two friends of mine were assaulted and robbed at gunpoint by two men, one of whom introduced himself as Marcos. His last name may be Hirales. It was a terrifying experience for these two women. Over the last couple of days, they have seen that the police are not trying very hard to find the men. We have since found out that the car is registered in Loreto. One of the men might be in El Valle. Please, Nomads, help to find these men. If they did it once, they could certainly do it again. The license number of the car is 284 PMJ 5. It is a small white hatchback, older model (80's) with one broken headlight.
The husband of one of the women wrote to the Gringo Gazette (the paper we all love to hate) thinking that some publicity would pressure the police into taking some action. The following is the letter he sent, and the response from the publisher.

Hi

My wife was visiting a neighbor yesterday (wednesday, April 23) here in Comitan, a small community at the southwest end of La Paz bay.
About 12:45, two men drove in thru an open gate at the house while they were unpacking groceries The men asked the owner of the home for water, at which time she asked them to leave the property and she would bring them water outside the fence. They took the water, closed the hood and appeared to drive away. The women went inside the house, turned around to go out for more groceries, and the man approached them with a pistol pointed at them, herding them back in the house. He and his accomplice then tied their hands behind their back, forced them to lie on the floor after fondling my wife's crotch and saying they should rape her. They then tossed the house, stripped them of their rings bracelets etc, and left. Thankfully they were unharmed. When the local transito police arrived, a lot of false information was given by them to me about the car having been found etc which later proved to be lies. The cop who was supposed to bring out pictures at 7 that evening decided to get drunk instead. It has now been taken over by AFI, and the women are pursuing the mountains of paperwork etc. These men spoke english, and the license plate was taken by the women and given immediately to the "authorities".


On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 7:03 PM, Carrie Duncan <carrie@gringogazette.com> wrote:

wow. Terrible story,. Wow. But I'm afraid thee is nothing we can do. We can embarrass the police into doing their job, they just don't care what we think of them. And its politically correct for the officials to give foreigners a hard time. They get brownie points for it.

The husband responded:

I wasn't asking you to "do" anything but your job , which I thought was to disseminate information important to people down here etc. The issue is not to embarrass the police which is admittedly a lost cause, but to threaten the tourism economic base, the only thing they seem to be sensitive to. A concern you seem to share. Thanks anyway
dick


Carrie Duncan responded:


I do care, but I'm realistic. The politicians don't care because they share in all the robberies, and the developers don't care because they put those guys in office and they let theme, the developers) run amuck. Its all very complicated.

Carrie Duncan.





Complicated? I don't know about that. People need to help each other and not by mouthing platitudes. Please keep a look out for the vehicle. If you see or hear anything, U2U me and I'll pass it along to the people involved. Thanks.

Gadget - 4-25-2008 at 12:37 PM

I am very sorry to hear this. We all learn from it though.

Curious that one of the assailants would introduce himself, or was this while he asked for water for the car?

How did the 2 gals get untied?

woody with a view - 4-25-2008 at 12:42 PM

when they catch the punks, let's hope they get strung up by the jewels with barbed wire.

Sharksbaja - 4-26-2008 at 12:24 AM

This sounds like a job for the Gnukid! Do you know him per chance?

roamingthroughbaja - 4-26-2008 at 06:18 AM

I think these guys headed north to the Loreto or Constitucion area. Please watch for this car if you live in that area. If anyone sees it, please email to robin@vistabaja.com or phone 612 159 0689. Don't approach the drivers as they are armed. Thanks.

longlegsinlapaz - 4-26-2008 at 07:00 AM

Robin, check your U2U

Cervisin - 4-26-2008 at 10:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sharksbaja
This sounds like a job for the Gnukid! Do you know him per chance?


You mean the guy with all his false statements and "produced" police report he published here, the story of his skiff stolen, while his friends took it for a pleasure ride and had a doobie, the guy that runs with all the drug users along the marina (probably to get the off drugs... jejejejeje) and the call him the "gringo loco" - geeze , who knows that @#%&^* not..... hope he pollutes this board no more with his lies......

roamingthroughbaja - 4-27-2008 at 06:36 AM

Please let's not take this thread away from it's intent. The police are not trying very hard to find these guys, and since they were successful in this robbery, who knows where they might try it again. Please, everyone, watch for the car and take extra security measures to protect yourselves. If anyone is heading north to the race this weekend, check every small white car for a broken headlight and that license number. Let's put these guys away.

Sharksbaja - 4-27-2008 at 11:45 AM

Cervisin, that comment was to be tongue-in-cheek. I just saw a very similar writing style and content and was surprised it happened in La Pa'. Many people believed his caca.

My email to Ms. Duncan

Bronco - 4-27-2008 at 01:16 PM

"wow. Terrible story,. Wow. But I'm afraid thee is nothing we can do. We can embarrass the police into doing their job, they just don't care what we think of them. And its politically correct for the officials to give foreigners a hard time. They get brownie points for it.
I do care, but I'm realistic. The politicians don't care because they share in all the robberies, and the developers don't care because they put those guys in office and they let theme, the developers) run amuck. Its all very complicated"

(The above was copied from a post on bajanomad.com.)

What’s complicated, Ms. Duncan, is understanding your reply. A crime has been committed. Report it, in your paper, with the facts, including the license plate number of the vehicle. That’s realistic and it may ruffle some of “theme” developer’s feathers but losing condo sales and tourists will definitely have an impact, but then you don’t have the moxie of your past partner.

roamingthroughbaja - 4-27-2008 at 01:37 PM

Amen to that! I don't understand why the Gringo Gazette wouldn't help with this situation. They're quick to report gas station scams. One would think that they would want the information re the car, the license plate number, etc., to be published so that these guys could be apprehended before they attack someone else.

Armed Home Invasion on April 23rd

judidick - 5-10-2008 at 05:54 PM

I would like to share the news that there has been positive evidence
that the police are working very hard at solving this crime. They are
to be commended on the fact that they have possession of items stolen
during the invasion and a photo of a man whom the other victim and I
agree is the gunman. The police also have an official photo of a man
they think is perhaps the accomplice. We believe that now it's only a
matter of time - hopefully my next post will have news that the guys
have been arrested.

bajaguy - 5-10-2008 at 06:12 PM

Good news....so far. Did the event get any coverage in the Gringo Gazette???

Armed Home Invasion on April 23rd

judidick - 5-11-2008 at 06:19 AM

To date, we have not be contacted by anyone from the Gringo Gazette, nor has anything appeared in their paper. ???????

Kell-Baja - 5-11-2008 at 02:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by roamingthroughbaja
Amen to that! I don't understand why the Gringo Gazette wouldn't help with this situation. They're quick to report gas station scams. One would think that they would want the information re the car, the license plate number, etc., to be published so that these guys could be apprehended before they attack someone else.


Why not ask her just that? Why won't she make it a story/warning in the paper? :rolleyes:

Kell-Baja - 5-11-2008 at 02:19 PM

I sure hope they catch those slimey jerks!! I cannot imagine the terror you must have went through, I applaud your courage.

roamingthroughbaja - 5-12-2008 at 06:23 AM

Maybe she doesn't want to report really bad stuff; just penny ante stuff that doesn't make folks afraid to visit. I know this kind of thing is very rare, but I believe that the foreigners need to be warned and be on guard so it doesn't happen to them.

DENNIS - 5-12-2008 at 07:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by roamingthroughbaja
Maybe she doesn't want to report really bad stuff; just penny ante stuff that doesn't make folks afraid to visit. I know this kind of thing is very rare, but I believe that the foreigners need to be warned and be on guard so it doesn't happen to them.


Look what happened to Nancy Conroy for bringing out the full story. She was crucified by all sides.

Kell-Baja - 5-12-2008 at 02:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by roamingthroughbaja
Maybe she doesn't want to report really bad stuff; just penny ante stuff that doesn't make folks afraid to visit. I know this kind of thing is very rare, but I believe that the foreigners need to be warned and be on guard so it doesn't happen to them.


Isn't any worse than all the news stories of Americans being kidnapped & heads getting cut off & So On. Well, I think it sucks that you can't get any help from them & I sure hope they catch those Scum.

CaboRon - 5-13-2008 at 03:02 PM

Is this the same thread as La Paz Home Invasion thread ?

Or are these different events ?

CaboRon

Mz. Duncan's reply to my email re:home robbery

Bronco - 5-15-2008 at 05:04 PM

Below my post and email to Gringo Gazette,
From Bronco----
What’s complicated, Ms. Duncan, is understanding your reply. A crime has been committed. Report it, in your paper, with the facts, including the license plate number of the vehicle. That’s realistic and it may ruffle some of “theme” developer’s feathers but losing condo sales and tourists will definitely have an impact, but then you don’t have the moxie of your past partner.

Mz. Duncan's reply:

I think I have learned a lesson here.


That was a private email between myself and a reader and was dashed off in a hurry, incomplete, and was not intended for public posting.

Apparently, I can't respond to an enquiry without fearing it might go public. I will certainly remember this.

And if I had expressed my complete thought on the subject, I think you would have understood my point better.

I get about 180 emails a day and just can not take the time to watch every typo, or if I do, then I will only respond to some of them.


------------------------
Carrie Duncan, Publisher
Gringo Gazette

sd - 5-15-2008 at 05:37 PM

So lets hear her complete thought.

capitolkat - 5-21-2008 at 08:11 AM

I have heard from a Comitan resident that the culprits have been caught and some property recovered- anything more or different from Nomads???

roamingthroughbaja - 5-21-2008 at 04:26 PM

Nope, they are still out there. The police have a good idea of who they are but not where they are. Keep your guard up!