Santo Domingo, DR
At least five people were victims this week of the clutches of crime, in the same street, in the community of San Felipe de Villa Mella, where this past Saturday, a young man died after being shot for allegedly refusing to hand over the motorcycle he was riding. A single shot, which occurred between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., took the life of Tony Anthony Corcino Alberto when he was traveling from Canaan I, the place where he lived, to San Felipe to carry out personal errands on a borrowed motorcycle.
The shot, which several locals said they heard, also interrupted the sleep of a poorly lit area where muggings have become “the bread and butter of the day.”
The 33-year-old father of a 10-year-old child worked as a security guard in one of the health insurance company offices and was described by his friends as “a hard-working man who did not mess with anyone.”
In tears and despair, his mother, Alejandrina Alberto, said she wants to see those who took her “boy” away from her in prison. “Oh my poor beautiful boy, they took him away from me. And now what am I going to do?” Alejandrina repeated.
The same street
4th Street, where Tony was killed, was also the scene of other robberies in which a young man, identified only as Andy, was robbed of his cell phone last Monday.
“That was around the same time as this (referring to the case of the murdered man),” said Francisco Martinez, owner of a business in the previous section.
The following day, this time in the morning hours, a lady was surprised by two men riding a motorcycle who grabbed her belongings when she was going to the avenue to take a concho car.
“The neighbor saw them and ran to get a machete, but when he returned it was too late,” said Margarita, who added that the victim was on her way to a medical appointment.
According to the resident, two other older adults were robbed of their belongings after being assaulted around six o’clock in the morning.
Threat
In addition to San Felipe, residents in other areas such as Canaán also live at the mercy of crime. Raúl Vargas, a community member, detailed that “daily” he wakes up to the cries for help of women who lose their wallets in motor vehicle robberies. “Those who woke up early can just expect to be robbed right there,” Vargas said.
He also revealed that “it is useless to call the police, because they only go to the ice cream parlor over there (pointing with his finger) and eat ice cream.”
August.
Last month, crime in Santo Domingo North took the public limelight after Army Major Jose Antonio Santana de la Cruz and radio announcer Juan Francisco Perez Mendez (Manny) were murdered in Haras Nacionales. According to the National Police report, Major Santana de la Cruz and Perez Mendez were intercepted by Amaury Baez de la Rosa, and three other men only identified as “Bryan,” “Tayga,” and “Morocho,” who held them at gunpoint, robbed them of their belongings, then shot them dead.