Daylight robberies are becoming more common on Cuban streets. This Wednesday two individuals assaulted a minor in the Luyanó neighborhood, in the Diez de Octubre municipality in Havana, to take away his mobile phone. The reaction of the neighbors made the thieves try to flee but one of them was captured and handed over to the police.
The attempted robbery occurred at mid-morning on Rodríguez street between Reforma and Fábrica. The minor was walking down the road when two young men jumped on him to take his cell phone, according to what they told 14ymedio area residents. “When the neighbors found out and went to defend the child, one of the delinquents managed to get into a corridor on Reforma street but they caught him. The other managed to escape.”
The individual was beaten by a group of nearby residents who finally handed him over to the police, who arrived at the scene a while later. “They gave him a few trompones,” details a neighbor who witnessed the entire scene from the portal of her house. “I thought they were going to kill him because people were very upset that they had done that to a child.”
“When the neighbors noticed and went to defend the child, one of the criminals managed to get into a corridor on Reforma street but they caught him”
“They no longer wait for nightfall, in broad daylight it is dangerous to walk down the street,” adds the woman. “In this neighborhood, we used to walk more calmly but now it has become a problem to take out your mobile phone, carry a pretty bag or a chain around your neck, even if it’s fancy.”
Stories of neighbors trying to take justice into their own hands against thieves, scammers or sexual abusers are becoming more common. The economic crisis has triggered so-called street “outbursts”, in which the perpetrator flees at full speed after taking the victim’s mobile phone, wallet or jewelry. Some run away while others use bicycles or motorcycles to carry out their misdeeds.
In recent months, social networks have been filled with complaints in which citizens ask for urgent measures to be taken in the face of the increase in assaults in the country. Some also complain that there are police officers to suppress protests and prevent alleged crimes against the State but not to find thieves in the neighborhoods.
The Government does not provide figures for robberies and robberies or assaults with violence, so it is impossible to determine when crime increases or decreases. Neither do the official media address this type of case or the possible waves of robberies, generally limiting themselves to covering only thefts in the state sector and, in many cases, magnifying them.
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