Warning: Gun Robbery in Palermo

[iStar]

September wasn’t a particularly good month for crime in Argentina, according to a new study.

Torcuarto Di Tella University’s latest crime “victimization rate” survey indicates that both overall criminal activity and violent crime worsened last month.

Di Tella’s study, which surveys households in 40 urban centers around the country, shows that 32.7% of these homes said at least one household member was a victim of a crime within the past 12 months.

That figure is up a bit from 31.6% the previous month and up from 29.3% a year ago.

The study said that victims violent crimes report them to the police only one third of the time, meaning that 2/3 of all violent crimes are never formally reported.

That says a lot about society’s lack of trust in the efficacy of police and the judicial system.

 

[mini]

Victoria,
I'm sorry this happened to your son but glad he is ok. I hope he forgets this incent quickly.

Can you plz tell us more details? Where in Palermo (cross streets) did this happen and what time was it? Where did the kind stranger come from? Was he/she also walking home or did he here something from the house?

Feliz Fiestas.

 

[citygirl]

Victoria: I'm so sorry to hear & thank god your son is okay. Was he wearing a nice watch? (just to be clear, I'm not implying in any way it was his fault). But every single person I know in Arg who had an expensive watch was robbed.

And for whomever asked, there was a poll a while back on this. I myself (knocking on wood) haven't been a victim of a crime. But I will say that I am in the minority, most people I know (Argentine and expat) have been.

 

[victoria]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your concerns. The boys were in my nighborhood, which is Oro and Soler. They were a little turned around coming back from the pool hall where they'd been playing, so they weren't able to tell me exactly where it happened, but they knew they were close to home.

They weren't drunk. The watch was blingy looking but inexpensive.

It was late ... around 4 a.m. Their last night in BA and they wanted to make the most of it because they knew nothing would be open Christmas Eve.

My son's friend kept his head, hailed a taxi and began looking for my son with the driver. When he saw a police officer he jumped out and told him what happened. The officer took him to the station to get a statement ... Matt said he was sobbing there, thinking Elliot maybe got shot. I think the incident was hardest on Matt because he didn't know how it was going to turn out.

At the same time, I woke up with a start with a bad feeling, to find my son sitting sweaty, shaky and pissed off on the sofa. I immediately threw on some clothes to go looking for Matt, since I know the neighborhood better than my son. It was light now and I grabbed my cell phone going out the door, intending to call the police while I looked.

Matt appeared at the end of the street with four cops and a squad car.

The kind stranger was just someone walking down the street, right after it happened. He said he was embarrassed that these crimes are common in his city.

My son and his friend wouldn't even consider going out in the immediate vicinity with me tonight to watch people celebrating Christmas in the street with fireworks. So we all stayed in.