Sosua Kidnapping?

[Rocky]

I first heard about it Monday morning but didn't post anything until I at least had that much confirmation.

Rightfully so.

I don't have more details and I am not going to give names.

Also, rightfully so.

But I did think at least those of us who live here should be aware that things like this are going on for the very same reasons that you mentioned in your post, i.e., to cause people to think in advance what you will do if, for example, people try to stop you on the road somewhere.

That's the real service you and many other valued DR1 members provide, and thank God for that.

 

[Ken]

Maybe if you researched the archives a bit, you would know that nothing is different now than it was a long time ago, except communications.
We now hear about everything & anything.
Crima has always existed, still exists and will continue to exist.
That being said, it is generally perceived to be a safer place to live than most places in North America.
Amen.

I think that is true, Rocky. Before we had this message board, about all I heard about was the little corner of the country where I lived. When I got robbed in 1995 and had my jaw fractured in two places, just the people in Samana, where I was living at the time, knew about it. Now we would be making a meal of the incident on DR1 and talking about the DR being out of control.

 

[AZB]

PS: If they got a guy on a pasola, you may not be safe after all, Robert.

ken you have been living here for so many years yet you only know sosua. Getting someone on a pasola is the most easiest prey in DR. They have been stretching wire across the road at night in montellano so when a pasola or a motorcycle rider would come across he would get thrown off his scooter and thus, get robbed. This had been in practice for many years in montellano area on the main road to POP. So a pasola rider is an easy target anywhere especially if you can spot a lonely gringo in shorts on a dangerous mountian road to santiago.
Robert is no professional victim. He has lived in some of the most dangerous cities in the world, including rio de jeniro. He has had things happen to him which would give heart attack to an average person living in western countries. ROB, should I tell about the taxi cab incident in brazil? nevermind. I am sure rob knows how to carry himself in this country. You only have to act like a victim to fall victim to some tigre.
I won't worry about his incident and contiue to travel that road or any road in DR. This is relatively a safe country for me.
Now ken, isn't it time for your daily dip in your gated community pool?
have a nice day.
AZB

 

[Rocky]

ken you have been living here for so many years yet you only know sosua. Getting someone on a pasola is the most easiest prey in DR. They have been stretching wire across the road at night in montellano so when a pasola or a motorcycle rider would come across he would get thrown off his scooter and thus, get robbed. This had been in practice for many years in montellano area on the main road to POP. So a pasola rider is an easy target anywhere especially if you can spot a lonely gringo in shorts on a dangerous mountian road to santiago.
Robert is no professional victim. He has lived in some of the most dangerous cities in the world, including rio de jeniro. He has had things happen to him which would give heart attack to an average person living in western countries. ROB, should I tell about the taxi cab incident in brazil? nevermind. I am sure rob knows how to carry himself in this country. You only have to act like a victim to fall victim to some tigre.
I won't worry about his incident and contiue to travel that road or any road in DR. This is relatively a safe country for me.
Now ken, isn't it time for your daily dip in your gated community pool?
have a nice day.
AZB

Geez, AZB.
Can't you tell when Ken is kidding?

 

[rellosk]

If the economic situation gets much worse then there will be even more crimes against expats and then you will see an exodus.

Fortunately, the economy seems to be improving, and hopefully with the latest elections, the current administration can wipe out the ill effects of the prior uber-corrupt administration.

 

[james]

Maybe this has some connection to a group (about 6 or 7) of military fellows in fatigues sitting around this morning in front of the German fellows pottery shop, the one across the road from Productos Sosua. Doesn't he drive a pasola?

 

[jackieboo]

As a soon to be ex-pat living in the DR I've been reading these posts with great interest. Let me share a story of what happened to me on my last visit to the DR.

I was down looking at property with an agent out of Santiago. The agent met us in Cabarete, showed us property there and then the plan was for us to follow him to a finca half way between POP and STI (on the little windy mountain road). After looking at the property the agent headed home to STI and we headed back down the mountain to Cabarete. It's now dusk and getting dark fast.

Half way down the mountain we had a flat tire. We pulled off the side of the road to fix the tire only to discover that the Hertz rental car we had didn't have a jack. Luckily my cell phone had reception and I called Hertz only to find out that they didn't have any way to come help.

After about 15 minutes a guy in a little white truck stopped, came over to the car, saw we didn't have a jack, went back to his truck, got a jack and fixed the tire. He didn't ask for a dime (although I gave him RD$2000 and insisted he take it).

That experience solidified my move to the DR. It's something that just would never happen here in the states where I live.

I know this was an isolated incident, but with all of the negative stories I thought I'd share my positive one.

 

[Ken]

After about 15 minutes a guy in a little white truck stopped, came over to the car, saw we didn't have a jack, went back to his truck, got a jack and fixed the tire. He didn't ask for a dime (although I gave him RD$2000 and insisted he take it).

That experience solidified my move to the DR. It's something that just would never happen here in the states where I live.

I know this was an isolated incident, but with all of the negative stories I thought I'd share my positive one.

Thanks for sharing, jackieboo. And that is not an isolated incident. The majority of Dominicans, especially those living in the campo, are warm hearted, honest people.

No question you don't get a complete picture of life in this country on this board, since much more time spent talking about the negatives than the positives. But that is the way it is on CNN, in the newspapers all over the world, etc. But these are the reasons why most of us long-time expats have become long time, and why we don't plan to return to our own country to live.

 

[Ken]

Now ken, isn't it time for your daily dip in your gated community pool?
have a nice day.
AZB

Good grief? Do you have PM?

 

[Eddy]

Please let me enlighten you about this "kidnapping".

The victim is a german resident, living and working here for many years and certainly not the kind of guy flashing thousands of dollars around.
He was on his way to Santiago on the Carretera Turistica on a saturday at noon with his pasola and got hit by a jeep. Four guys jumped out of the jeep telling him there are police and he would need to come to the station with them to search for weapons and drugs and pushed him into the jeep.

Instead of taking him to the station in Yasica they took him to a sugarcane field, tied him up and beat him up badly, taking all his belongings including credit cards and threatened to come back if the pin numbers wouldn't work.

He managed to free himself and get to a haitian batey where they helped him out and he could call his wife.

This is what really happened and it is first hand information as this guy is a good friend of mine.

I don't think this is the same one that Ken is talking about. So far there has been no official mention of the other one. (Much more dramatic)

 

[Chris]

You cannot do this to us! Much more dramatic? and you say nothing, even unofficially? Unfair!

And AZB, stop messin' with Ken now OK... Ken is just messin' with Robert

Anyway, joking aside, if there are two incidences of this on the same road, more or less the same timeframe, it does seem noteworthy.

I wish the German fellow well and hope that he will recover from such an ordeal. But it still is strange to me to drive that road on a pasola.? Where did this happen on the Carretera Turistica?

 

[AZB]

He didn't ask for a dime (although I gave him RD$2000 and insisted he take it).
QUOTE]
I hope you mean 200 not 2000 pesos.
AZB

 

[senorblanco]

I live in Cabarete and have heard many stories . Its not about the foriegner this is a corrupt country, and the police are the most corrupt of all They have the oppurtunity and they will do what they can whenever they can. My advice Dont drive at night. Sucks but is a fact , you have money and they want it

 

[jackieboo]

He didn't ask for a dime (although I gave him RD$2000 and insisted he take it).
QUOTE]
I hope you mean 200 not 2000 pesos.
AZB

Sorry AZB, but I did give the guy Rd$2000. After reading and hearing all of the horror stories about driving at night, plus being stuck on the side of a mountain with a dead car..

Anyway, it was dark and he didn't see how much I gave him until later. I just stuck the money in his shirt pocket, thanked him and got the hell out of there.

 

[Ken]

Sorry AZB, but I did give the guy Rd$2000. After reading and hearing all of the horror stories about driving at night, plus being stuck on the side of a mountain with a dead car..

Anyway, it was dark and he didn't see how much I gave him until later. I just stuck the money in his shirt pocket, thanked him and got the hell out of there.

If I was stranded on the road at night and somebody came along and "saved" me, I might bo so relieved that I would do the same.

But the important point in your post was that the man changed the tire before he was given anything and without any expectation, I'm sure, if getting such a handome tip

 

[Rocky]

Back on topic again

The following is third hand information, via a Dominican who worked on the case involving the kidnapping.
I am told that a man by the name of Dan Brown of Sea Horse Ranch was kidnapped, for purposes of collecting a ransom.
A lot of high politicians and high ranking army officials got involved, and secured the release of the victim, on Monday.
It is not known at this time if the ransom was paid, or if the authorities got him back by other means.
This info was given to me over the phone, and I asked if it was Dean Brown, a real Estate agent for Century 21, and it was repeated to me, that it was Dan Brown.
Hopefully none of this info is innacurate due to lousy cellphone quality.

 

[Snuffy]

jackie...first off that would happen in many places in the USA. Perhaps you have not experienced those places. Something about the city that changes a person. You were in the campo. The people in the campo are much different than the people in the cities and the resort areas.

I think how much you give the man is your business so I see nothing wrong with 2000RD if you can afford it. I am glad you had this experience but let me warn you now...you will get your share of very negative experiences. The trick is to expect them to happen to you and look at it as just part of the whole pie. Money helps. The more you have the better. Sounds like you have a little so you should be fine.

Don't take your security for granted. That is the number one rule.

Best of Luck

 

[rellosk]

As a soon to be ex-pat living in the DR I've been reading these posts with great interest. Let me share a story of what happened to me on my last visit to the DR.

I was down looking at property with an agent out of Santiago. The agent met us in Cabarete, showed us property there and then the plan was for us to follow him to a finca half way between POP and STI (on the little windy mountain road). After looking at the property the agent headed home to STI and we headed back down the mountain to Cabarete. It's now dusk and getting dark fast.

Half way down the mountain we had a flat tire. We pulled off the side of the road to fix the tire only to discover that the Hertz rental car we had didn't have a jack. Luckily my cell phone had reception and I called Hertz only to find out that they didn't have any way to come help.

After about 15 minutes a guy in a little white truck stopped, came over to the car, saw we didn't have a jack, went back to his truck, got a jack and fixed the tire. He didn't ask for a dime (although I gave him RD$2000 and insisted he take it).

That experience solidified my move to the DR. It's something that just would never happen here in the states where I live.

I had a similar experience happen to me on one of my early visits to the DR. It truly endeared the Dominican people to me.

Although, if the same thing happened to me today, I might be a bit leery about being set up.

 

[NALs]

jackie...first off that would happen in many places in the USA. Perhaps you have not experienced those places. Something about the city that changes a person. You were in the campo. The people in the campo are much different than the people in the cities and the resort areas.

Winston Churchill said it best: "We influence the design of our [cities] and then the [cities] influence us."

BTW: I changed the word building with cities.
-NALs

 

[DominicanScotty]

Not as isolated as you might think

As a soon to be ex-pat living in the DR I've been reading these posts with great interest. Let me share a story of what happened to me on my last visit to the DR.

I was down looking at property with an agent out of Santiago. The agent met us in Cabarete, showed us property there and then the plan was for us to follow him to a finca half way between POP and STI (on the little windy mountain road). After looking at the property the agent headed home to STI and we headed back down the mountain to Cabarete. It's now dusk and getting dark fast.

Half way down the mountain we had a flat tire. We pulled off the side of the road to fix the tire only to discover that the Hertz rental car we had didn't have a jack. Luckily my cell phone had reception and I called Hertz only to find out that they didn't have any way to come help.

After about 15 minutes a guy in a little white truck stopped, came over to the car, saw we didn't have a jack, went back to his truck, got a jack and fixed the tire. He didn't ask for a dime (although I gave him RD$2000 and insisted he take it).

That experience solidified my move to the DR. It's something that just would never happen here in the states where I live.

I know this was an isolated incident, but with all of the negative stories I thought I'd share my positive one.

No disrespect to this poster, just using the quote to launch from.

Never mind all the doom and gloom about this country. Jeeeesh, where are the majority of you posters from? The desert? Crime is conducive to anyplace that humans live. Sure, there are crimes of opportunity and a fancy jeepeta slowly moving along a country road with gringos in it is a big fat opportunity. Knuckleheads (whatever their race or nationality) on pasolas riding on the cumbre are insane!

All and all, the number of friendly Dominicans far and wide outnumber the ladrones. It is not that uncommon that a Dominican would stop to help a stranger and ask for nothing. Heck, did you ever think that he also places himself at risk dealing with a complete stranger on a darkened country road as well? Isolated are the crimes, not the decent hardworking people of the Dominican Republic.

Nuff said