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The location wasn’t published, so any idea where this occurred?
Personally, I don’t like him either…:roll:Every weekday morning when I drive past Sabana Sur, the line-up around the gun registration building is around the block. That should give you some indication of the changes in Pura Vida land.
The difference here is that the ‘one time’ you give the thieves an opportunity, they’ll take it.
Scott, I think that you are being too harsh on the ‘victim’ of this crime. Did he make a mistake? Of course he did, but you come across way too harshly. Instead, you should tell all your readers and potential Costa Rica investors to “be vigilant 100% of the time, never let your guard down, for the one time that you do, you will deeply regret it.” Well maybe that’s not the message you want to send afterall since it doesn’t mesh with the promotion of the ‘Pura Vida’ lifestyle.
[quote=”dboy”]Scott, I think that you are being too harsh on the ‘victim’ of this crime. Did he make a mistake? Of course he did, but you come across way too harshly. Instead, you should tell all your readers and potential Costa Rica investors to “be vigilant 100% of the time, never let your guard down, for the one time that you do, you will deeply regret it.” Well maybe that’s not the message you want to send afterall since it doesn’t mesh with the promotion of the ‘Pura Vida’ lifestyle.[/quote]
Thanks for your feedback dboy – Crime has been discussed ad nauseum in this Discussion Forum (and every other forum) and in articles on this site….
In the last decade I have heard hundreds of stories about crime and a HUGE percentage of these situations could have been easily avoided using simple, common sense but as many of us know: “Common sense is not so common”.
At some stage people have to take responsibility for their actions.
In case you missed it: Deadly Crimes in Costa Rica. The safest country in Central America.
The numbers do vary a little depending on the source but no matter what statistics you look at, Costa Rica remains the safest country in all of Central America.
1. El Salvador has a homicide rate in 2009 of 76 per 100,000 inhabitants
2. Honduras has a homicide rate in 2009 of 66.8 per 100,000
3. Guatemala has a homicide rate in 2009 of 48 per 100,000
4. Panama has a homicide rate in 2009 of 24 per 100,000
5. Nicaragua has a homicide rate in 2009 of 13 per 100,000
6. Costa Rica has a homicide rate in 2009 of 11 per 100,000Don’t take my word for it though, click on the article link above and check the many different sources yourself.
When you do, you’ll see that Costa Rica’s homicide rate is lower than the rate for a few major cities you might recognize like Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Columbus, Memphis, Baltimore, Washington DC, Atlanta, Kansas City, Cleveland, Miami, Oakland, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Newark, Buffalo and Mobile…
Scott
i’ve been sitting here for the last hour trying to understand the thought process that leads one to decide to leave valuables in a car. i liken it to jumping off the Empire State Building. even if someone told me i wouldn’t get hurt if i did it, i would still think it’s a BAD IDEA! how do people who are normally vigilant let their guard down to the point that they separate themselves from their valuables? there was some other guy i heard about who left his briefcase in his car in which there was $3000 and all his meds. he was only gone 5 minutes, but it was snatched. i get nauseous at the thought of leaving three grand somewhere where it could get stolen. maybe i’m just mroe anal about these kinds of things than other people. i even stopped leaving anything of value in my car in colorado. if you provide the temptation, someone will surely relieve you of your possessions.
[quote=”maravilla”]i’ve been sitting here for the last hour trying to understand the thought process that leads one to decide to leave valuables in a car. [/quote]
Consider the hundreds of thousands of tourists who come to visit this country every year. As they travel to their destinations with luggage and want to stop to eat, see a tourist attraction etc, what are they to do with their belongings? Yes, we can tell them to be careful and try not to leave anything in plain sight, but that is easier said than done.
Until the judicial culture of Costa Rica takes stronger measures against petty theft and criminal acts, we’ll just have to continue to blame the victim for their ‘stupidity’.
All that aside… it is interesting to see how in the last couple of years the crime has become more organized. I am sure that my stuff has ended up at the local underground market in Cornel. My wifes cousin is now looking for it!
Most of these gangs are being run from foreigners from Colombia and Panama. They have started to migrate from stealing cars to kidnapping.
A month or so ago a male was waiting in front of Multi Plaza and was kidnapped.
Ten years ago this was unusual here in Costa Rica but it was starting to happen in Panama. Costa Rica still has a long ways to go to curb the problem but what I see is the public is still to timid to stop the crime or report it.
In our case we were stupid and let the gaurd down, we thought that it was a small neighbor hood and secluded! Which really is the worst situation if you have people in that neighborhood that are eyes for the banditos…
Good thing is that now we can say it happened to us and we will be better people for it. Again remember Force Protection rules lock everything up and take valuables with you. Lock your electronics with pins so that no one can get your personal information. Always keep a cell phone in your pocket to call police.kidnapping — the biggest sport in Venezuela and Mexico. Great. Now the gangs have figured out it’s profitable in Panama and Costa Rica? $(%**^&#!!! My friends in Mexico live in terror of this happening, so they travel everywhere with armed bodyguards. What the hell kind of life is THAT? Is this what’s coming in Costa Rica? The gringos are kidnapping targets? ugh. and $*%!! $(%*^(%!!!!
That is the question, how long can Costa Rica keep the wolves at the door! They are now trying to slow down the migration of Mexicans and Colombians to CR but that won’t stop them.
CR has become very attractive to many types of people and with out stopping them at Panama its a open door here.
Time will tell, but I am hoping that CR can turn it around.[quote=”Scott”]Yes! Please do share more stories with us …
Is anybody else out there willing to admit to being as bloody foolish as ‘Ticorealtor’ to leave a whole load of valuables in their parked car?
Like nobody has ever warned anybody about leaving valuables in a car, right?
You were supposedly in the armed forces ‘Ticorealtor’… When I was in the Royal Marine Commandos and a Marine “lost” something because he was foolish enough not to secure it and someone stole it, the Marine who lost it was charged with the loss of property.
When a Marine caught a venereal disease, the Marine who caught the disease was charged because it was a “self inflicted injury”…
Any questions?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com[/quote]I have been reading with earnest the threads, particularly on crime. Just this morning while watching the local news(WCCO CH. 4 – Mpls. MN)the news person stated that MPLS will start posting signs in certain downtown locations stating “don’t leave valuables” in plain sight in your parked car. PLACE THEM IN YOUR TRUNK!She went on to say, don’t wait until you are in the city and parked before you place valuables in your truck as someone could be watching. Here or there,it doesn’t matter, the bottom line, as has been stated many times on this forum is: Use your HEAD!!!
I have to admit that I am also a slow learner. I left my power lines unattended in the ground and my light fixtures were left attached to the house in plain view while I was away. You would think that I would have had the smarts to remove them when I’m out the first time they were stolen. How stooopid is that?!! I guess I wasn’t cut out to be a marine. Oh well…
How bloody stupid can you be? 😀
Seriously though that just plain sucks. Our business in San Jose was plagued indirectly by thieves who would rob the electrical and copper wires on a regular basis. One thief was electrocuted so there was some justice served. There is not much you can do so in the end we just moved as these incidents caused too much disruption to our business when the electricity or Internet was affected. I think our door lamp was stolen about three times. In the end we just didn’t replace it and the problem was solved. 😕
Does anyone know where the robbery took place? What city was it near? When we were in Quepos, last summer, We also were robbed. No gun was involved and the burglars got nothing but an empty duffle bag with underwear in them!. We didn’t see the crime happen but we found out who did it and saw them just about to break a window out of a tourist bus. We confronted them and the local police came as did some store owners. The robbers left in a BLACK NISSAN SENTRA! I wonder if it is the same car and kids!
Well in Costa Rica Black Nissan Sentras are all over the place. Where my robbery took place was in the burbs of San Jose a long ways a way from Quepos. Yes, what happened to me can take place anywhere in the world and it does every day. I am sure that if you take any major city you will find it happening. Its just that here it is a much smaller country and things get more micro. If the police force and the citizens just keep their heads down instead of doing somthing than it gets worse.
This is why the Ticos would rather live in a gated community than a ungated.
We found out that later that night after we got robbed that in the same area someone else was robbed but they were shot.
I guess we were just lucky that the kid was as stuned as we were when he seen a gringo at the door.
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