Motochorro Caught In Recoleta ... Gets A Beating !!!

[RichardP]

I once witnessed a thief get a beating after he robbed a casa de cambio in Mendoza and was grabbed by people in the street as he tried to flee. I'll never forget him yelling policia! poicia! ayudame!

 

[Bv3]

About two weeks ago I was walking along Cerrito between Mitre and Rivadavia, towards Rivadavia when a man came running towards me from Rivadavia. People behind him were chasing and screaming "Ladron! Agarrenlo!" As he approached me another man about 3 meters ahead of me stuck his foot out to trip the thief. The thief didn't fall down but only stumbled a little which gave me the opportunity to tackle him. I and a big guy (6'5", 400 lbs) and I pushed him and slammed him up against a closed newspaper kiosk. Then he fell to the ground where three other men jumped on top of him and held him down. The victim of the theft was an older Argentine man and when he caught up the thief said to him "tomá la plata" and gave the guy his money back (It looked like about 400 pesos) hoping we would let him go afterwards. More people arrived and began kicking him. Someone brought a big metal hammer and whacked him several times in the spine as he was being held down. A cartonero who was passing by took the thief's new Nike sneakers off his feet and left with them. After about five minutes the police arrived and most people left.

I'm not saying I hit the guy but if I had wouldn't feel bad about it. I don't feel bad about him being beaten. Nor do I feel bad about him losing his shoes. The police have no power to do anything and the justice system is a joke. The people have to defend themselves.

About three years ago I caught a guy who pickpocketed me in the subway. He had already handed my wallet off to an accomplice so I didn't get it back but I held him until the police arrived. The police seemed surprised that I wanted to make the denuncia but I did and of course nothing ever happened. Afterwards I felt so stupid for thinking "the police will take of this when they arrive." I wish I would have done something myself. Since then, I have not been so naive in similar situations.

People are tired of being robbed.

 

[Bv3]

I applaud the efforts of the people in the video posted here to help bring justice to that motochorro.

 

[Joe]

Did the motodriver of the Motochorro team escape?

 

[Gorilla Monsoon]

Had I been there I would have happily kicked that assh*le in the balls.

 

[EricLovesBA]

So many interesting gray areas. I remember a video a while back of some asian people torturing a small child in the street who surely had stolen something. The kid will be thinking twice about stealing, but the general consensus in the comments was that it was child abuse. Also remember another viral video of a crowd taking revenge on some heavy handed cops at a futbal game. Several cops got their asses handed to them by the crowd that rushed the field, but if you followed it carefully, the one cop that was really doing the unnecessary beatdown scurried off the field like a rat, pretty much unscathed. A crowd of people can mete out some pretty swift justice, but it's interesting to note a double standard - if it's vigilante justice, we cheer, but if it's a cop doing the beatdown we see it as crossing the line of justifiable force. Don't we?

 

[jeff1234]

Many years ago in Paris I had a similar experience where public attention deterred criminals.
I was coming out of the Lourve. As we walked though the plaza outside my wife and I were swarmed by gypsie women and kids asking or money. I said "Hold onto your purse", she said "Too late. Its gone". I started to confront the women who immediately denied any knowledge of the missing purse as they started to fade into the crowd. I grabbed the last little gypsy kid, turned him upside down and held him high in the air by his ankles. This attracted alot of attention from other tourists and the police. The women panicked. I guess their business model called for them to not get alot of attention.
As people and police started to gather around, the missing purse appeared with everything still inside.

 

[notebook.fix]

It's heart warming to see the community coming together & being so generous to those who need a little help in understanding the rules. It's always been like this in Argentina, for example, if there was a pickpocket on the bus the bus driver would shut the doors & the the passengers would do their bit of 'community' work ..I remember watching an investigative show a few years ago where they caught out these real estate con men, I'll never forget their faces when the crowd got them outside their offices, there was so much 'community spirit' & generosity dispensed in front of the cameras that day..the police just stayed out of the way until the crowd finished 'restraining' the culprits. So satisfying to see.

What isn't so funny is what happened yesterday, two moto chorros gunned down a young man who tried to run away from them after being held up. http://www.larazon.c..._457500063.html

And if anyone is still feeling sorry for the motochorro...here's a just a few recent cases:

"Motochorros” matan a un diseñador gráfico en Villa Pueyrredón
http://www.larazon.c..._445200178.html

Dos motochorros matan a una mujer policía de un tiro en el cuello
http://www.minutouno...-tiro-el-cuello

Motochorros mataron de dos disparos a un panadero de Tortuguitas
http://www.minutouno...ro-tortuguitas-

"Motochorros mataron a un recolector de basura al escapar"
http://www.lavoz.com...sura-al-escapar

Motochorros matan a un joven
http://www.taringa.n...a-un-joven.html

Hurlingham: "Motochorros" matan a pibe para robarl
http://www.taringa.n...ara-robarl.html

Motochorros mataron a un laburante en Moreno
http://www.taringa.n...-en-Moreno.html

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I must say I'm really torn about this. One the one hand I have, and will, deliver whatever serious injury I can to anyone trying to rob me if they are an adult. I've broken two thieves' wrists on purpose - on different occasions. Once in London and once here in BA. If you want to dance you've got to be willing to pay the band.

However, holding a thief down while someone else beats them with a hammer seems a bit unjust to me. The Rule of Law is one of the elements that defines a functioning society (regardless of whether it is being applied well, or not). Along with a bunch of other people on this list I'd be one to certainly interfere with a crime in progress and, if possible, deliver some "community service." At some point that crosses the line into the same criminal behavior that we are all against. We need to make sure that we don't become the criminals.

Word to the wise: unless you've seen the situation unfold from the beginning it can be hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys in a street melee.

 

[foxie]

About a year ago, I've been living near Carlos Pellegrini subway station, at 9 de Julio avenue, and my pool teacher was guiding me home at 2 a.m. from the pool bar, the mistake was that we stayed too long on the street chatting in front of the entrance of my building, when three guys came and asked us to give them everything. I jumped back (by instinct? I dunno) and my teacher got all their attention, I was just standing and watching them stealing his things without knowing what to do. But when one of them took off my teacher's case with his pool cues (which were expensive and they were like everything for him) I went crazy and started to chase that guy who had stolen it. He ran across the street but I followed him until he dropped the case and ran away. His accomplices though still took his jacket and wallet, but he didn't have much money in it.
Nobody was in the street to help and I didn't carry a pepper spray. I only had my heavy tripod (we were shooting some video that day) which could have scared them, and an angry face.
Since then my pepper spray is always with me, and a stun gun is also a useful thing to carry in especially dangerous places....

p.s. I'm a woman