Panama Forum

llseldon
Joined 2013
Posts: 3205

8 years ago

Crime in Panama

8 years ago

News about my Balboa High School classmates (husband & wife). The other popular trick is to kidnap someone, drive the around to different ATM machines, force them to withdrawn money then either leave them somewhere or as one woman kill her & leave the body in the truck of her car under the Bridge of the Americas (a popular dumping place, maybe as a symbol of the U.S. operation of the PCZ?). Major kudos to the Panama police on this one:

Ralph had recently returned from the USA and he and Clarita stopped by an Indian restaurant to pick up carryout dinner.
Clarita stayed in the car while Ralph went in to pick up the meal. When he got outside Clarita and their car were gone.
He called his daughter and she said she had just received a call from Clarita and she had been kidnapped and they wanted $15,000.

Everyone got together and pooled funds but could only come up with $5K as it was late at night.

An alert cop saw a suspicious car at the Day's Inn in Amador and asked the driver what he was doing there.

The driver said "My grandmother is teaching me to drive." whereupon Clarita said "Bull $hit (Or the equivalent in Spanish), I've been kidnapped".

They arrested the guy and freed Clarita. She is fine but shaken to say the least.

Later Ralph's son, Ralphie, noticed Clarita's car near the place where they were supposed to leave the ransom money. A police pursuit followed where Ralphie cut the car off at the bridge over the canal and the cop shot the driver. Clarita's SUV crashed and burned.
Cops are looking for the third guy. Will know more tomorrow.
http://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/Pedian-B15-secuestrar-Obarrio-detenidos_0_824917684.html

From: Ralph
Clarita is home with psychological scars. She will need rest to restore herself from the near death experience. The police did an excellent job in ending the sequester rapidly and effectively. Thanks to all who hustled up and delivered to me the needed cash to pay the ransom. Most of it was retained by us and will be returned shortly to the owners. The armed bandits asked for $10,000 then $20,000 and our strong box from the house but ended up with about $1,500, some of which was later found scattered in the street in the area of the burned out car at the Bridge of the Americas approach. The speeding car, driven by a teenager, was pursued by several police cars, and it struck a taxi and then lost control, ran into a concrete abutment which destroyed the car which then caught fire and is now a total loss. The attached film shows two of the maleantes, our burned out CRV and a second CRV that the thieves had stolen earlier. One bandit was shot in the rib cage by a police unit when his car (our car) stalled in traffic* in front of El Carmen Church. He is in Santo Tomas Hospital recovering. The second one was captured in Fort Amador near Friday's Restaurant with Clarita in his stolen car. She hand signalled the police that stopped to investigate the driver that there was a problem and the driver was immediately handcuffed. The third one is still at large and continues to call us up but we refuse to answer. No doubt he will be picked up just as soon as the captured bandits start to sing.

All's well that ends well.

*Rafael who was in hot pursuit cut him off with his car and that allowed a pursuing cop to shoot the driver in the right side through the closed passenger window. RFS raised his weapon but didn't have a clear shot.:

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