caught " red footed "
As travelers, we’re always wary of our surroundings. Keeping our bags close and our valuables even closer, we try our best to avoid becoming a robbery statistic. But the one time you let your guard down, disaster inevitably strikes.
After dancing the night at way at San Juan del Sur’s famous Iguana Bar, my sister Alicia, myself, and a few other traveling friends decided to grab a bite to eat. Following the post-party migration, we landed at another one of San Juan’s favorite spots, the Taco Stop. Open until 5 a.m. this small shack serves up the best Nicaraguan food yet. Just so happens, it is Mexican fare. No talking Chihuahua to advertise this favorite dig, only satisfied customers spreading the word. “Yo quiero Taco Stop…”
After dancing the night at way at San Juan del Sur’s famous Iguana Bar, my sister Alicia, myself, and a few other traveling friends decided to grab a bite to eat. Following the post-party migration, we landed at another one of San Juan’s favorite spots, the Taco Stop. Open until 5 a.m. this small shack serves up the best Nicaraguan food yet. Just so happens, it is Mexican fare. No talking Chihuahua to advertise this favorite dig, only satisfied customers spreading the word. “Yo quiero Taco Stop…”
Plopping ourselves on the curb, we chowed down on pollo quesadilla’s and fish tacos - Savoring every bite as if it were our last. It was in these moments of edible nirvana that our “travelers guard” lowered and Senor Ladrón (thief) stepped in.
Arriving shortly after we ordered our meals, I thought the man was just hungry and waiting for our leftovers, but after assessing his relatively clean attire and chain-smoking habit, I slashed that theory. Instead, I assumed he was just another local drunk roaming the streets. Lighting up a cigarette and standing very near, I politely asked him to move away. He obeyed cordially but not before I could study his face. Round and flat, with a thin mustache and a white ball cap covering what hair he might have had. Seedy man assessed, I happily returned to taco heaven. |
Finishing our last bites, we smacking our lips in satisfaction and began sauntering back to the bar. Not even 10 paces away, Alicia stopped in her tracks. Her face showed horror as she shrieked, “My camera”! Hustling back to the curb, we saw nothing. The Taco Stop owners saw nothing. And the slew of other hungry clientele saw nothing. It was gone....and so was the man.
Rushing to a nearby bank security guard I asked in hurried Spanish if he had seen the man to which he groggily replied, “Huh?” Okay, back to bed Security dude. Retracing our steps to the Iguana bar we thought, on an off chance, Alicia left it there. Again, no luck. Frustrated, Alicia began the process any of us would, beating herself up. “I took it off my wrist for 5 minutes so I could eat. It’s gone. It’s gone”. Robyn, Janiina and myself did our best to offer options. “Let’s go to the police. Let’s walk around town and find him. Let’s locate our hostel owner and employ his help”. But it was in this moment of consternation that Robyn made a grand discovery.
Flicking through her digital camera photo’s she found a game-changing picture. Snapping a photo of our posse eating on the curb, the robber was quite literally caught “red footed”. Staring directly into the camera with an expression of proud guilt, his sandal had been removed, leg outstretched and those dirty paws rested right on top of Alicia’s camera. Not even 2 millimeters from her hip, he literally swiped the camera from right underneath us.
Rushing to a nearby bank security guard I asked in hurried Spanish if he had seen the man to which he groggily replied, “Huh?” Okay, back to bed Security dude. Retracing our steps to the Iguana bar we thought, on an off chance, Alicia left it there. Again, no luck. Frustrated, Alicia began the process any of us would, beating herself up. “I took it off my wrist for 5 minutes so I could eat. It’s gone. It’s gone”. Robyn, Janiina and myself did our best to offer options. “Let’s go to the police. Let’s walk around town and find him. Let’s locate our hostel owner and employ his help”. But it was in this moment of consternation that Robyn made a grand discovery.
Flicking through her digital camera photo’s she found a game-changing picture. Snapping a photo of our posse eating on the curb, the robber was quite literally caught “red footed”. Staring directly into the camera with an expression of proud guilt, his sandal had been removed, leg outstretched and those dirty paws rested right on top of Alicia’s camera. Not even 2 millimeters from her hip, he literally swiped the camera from right underneath us.
(Can you spot the thief?)
Case solved. We had the crime and more importantly, the man’s face on film! In that spirited moment, fate played us another winning card. The police were making their nightly bar rounds and just so happened to pass us on the street. Sprinting towards their truck, Alicia and I blurted out the incident in our best Spanish, while Robyn excitedly showed the main officer her picture. Within seconds of seeing the evidence, the officer mobilized his troops, cocked their guns and sprinted down the street. Confused by the swiftness of their advance, we assumed they knew where the ladrón lived. But no, it was another stroke of luck leading the police march. Not even 20 yards away the ladrón sauntered towards us. Wearing a different shirt and missing his ball cap from before, he lowered his face and tried to look inconspicuous. Ha! Wasting no time, the cops ran at the man, yelled a few things in Spanish and cuffed him.
Everything happened so fast that when the officers asked us to identify the thief, I was a bit hesitant to say, “Si”. He looked identical to the man, but without the hat and sporting a different shirt (not to mention that all Nicaraguans look the same to me) I was hesitant to affirm. I told the police I thought so but that’s when our Swedish amiga, Janiina, stepped to the plate and claimed, “Si, Si!” She was 100 percent positive and with her profession, the man was thrown in the back of the police truck. Alicia, the victim, and Robyn, the rockstar photographer, were also swept into the truck and zoomed off to the police station to file a report.
Walking back to the hostel, I felt defeated. My sisters last day in Nicaragua (last hours even) and something of this caliber happened. Janiina once again kept a positive demeanor and assured me they would find the camera. And so we waited. And waited. And waited... |
This part of the story, is of course, better told by Alicia and Robyn, so here is Alicia’s account:
Arriving at the station, the police proceeded to question the man about the camera (Nicaraguan justice style – i.e. delivering a few blows). Giving into the painful assault, the man finally divulged who he sold the camera to. Throwing the culprit back in the police truck, they tore off towards the city to find his accomplice. During this time, we were placed in a waiting room. Sitting on plastic chairs and taking in the sparse surroundings, we did their best to ignore the cat calls. Literally other inmates “meowing” at us from behind a closed jail cell door. Needless to say, we were happy to file the report in the hopes of bringing the man to justice and getting the heck out of that Nicaraguan jail! Doing my best to respond to the political and legal questions in Spanish, after an hour of filing, the other officers returned…with the culprit, his accomplice and another lady in tow. And more importantly, camera in hand! |
The police then removed the ladron's handcuffs, told him to wait for questioning, and get this, left him in the room with us. Shocked, we did our best to stay as far away as possible and avoid any eye contact. Finally, at long last, the officers returned and threw the culprit and his accomplice in the jail cell. We were free to go but not before I asked the third party lady what exactly happened. She said the police caught the accomplice in the act of selling the camera to her. She of course claimed innocence, not knowing it was "hot property", but at that point, I didn't care who else was guilty...I had my camera! Case Closed!
Moral of the story is two-fold. First, never let your guard down. And second, never lose faith. My sister, and all the other parties involved, refer to this event as a mini-miracle and a wonderful reminder of the powers at work above. Diligence, persistence and faith always pay off. |