Lets talk about crime in DR

Mcinbrass

Bronze
Jan 2, 2002
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OK How many of you people out here on DR1 have been victims of crime. Please tell us as much about it as you are comfortable with. I personally promise not to blame the victim, I cannot speak for everyone though. Also did you feel that the police/authoroties were cooperative and helpful? What justice if any did you receive? And do you currently feel safe in DR right now with the current climate?
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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few months after i arrived to DR i was walking back from work, at 5-6 pm when i heard fast steps behind me. i held my bag closer under my arm and someone grabbed at it. i turned around and there was a young guy pointing a gun at my head with one hand and pulling the bag with the other. don't ask why but instead of letting go i pulled back, cursing him in three languages. instead of shooting he kept on hitting me with the gun, over my head, arms, hands.
eventually i pulled him from the sidewalk onto the street. a jeep passing us stopped, the driver got out, pulled out his gun and shot few times at my assailant. he let go and run towards a moto with a driver, just few meters away. they drove off. the shooter asked if i needed further help, i politely refused so he took off. another car, full of 20 something kids stopped and also offered help. they stayed with me until the arrival of miesposo.
no harm was done apart from some bruises. ironic thing is that i only had 41 pesos in my bag... and documents, of course. but really nada of value.

years later someone climbed into our second floor apartment, through the open window, and stole few hundred bucks. and about two years ago a young dude stole a meter from outside our house. and some arseholes stole CAPA sign from my car during PRD rally.

that's all i can remember.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,504
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dr1.com
OK How many of you people out here on DR1 have been victims of crime. Please tell us as much about it as you are comfortable with. I personally promise not to blame the victim, I cannot speak for everyone though. Also did you feel that the police/authoroties were cooperative and helpful? What justice if any did you receive? And do you currently feel safe in DR right now with the current climate?

How about you Mcinbrass, have you been a victim of crime in the DR. I know plenty of Dominicans that have been victims, but nobody in my wife's family has been a victim, yet.
 

4*4*4

Bronze
May 4, 2015
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dv8, having had that terrifying experience. Would you do something different if the same situation arises?
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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First visited 1996, lived here since 1999.

My wallet was swiped from my handbag at Supermercado Nacional on Av. 27 de Febrero con Lincoln, Santo Domingo, in 2004 or thereabouts. Entirely my fault - it was an open style shoulder bag and I let myself get distracted by a shopper asking for help while the thief helped him or herself to the wallet. I only realised a good 15 mins later when I reached the till.

There was very little cash (less than RD$1000) in the wallet but my passport, bank cards, cedula, EU and DR driving licences, residencia were all in there and had to be replaced.

I reported it to the police for document replacement purposes - I did not expect them to do anything. However, I was disappointed that the supermarket management did nothing at all to help. No CCTV, no attempt to monitor people leaving the supermarket, nothing.

A thief entered our apartment in Mirador Sur - again, my fault - I left the door open while I went out to hang out the washing. He was interrupted by the security guard so he just grabbed my mobile phone from the table and ran off but he ditched it on the staircase - presumably when he realised how cheap and nasty it was. This was maybe 2007. Didn't report to the police but we tipped the security guard.

Nothing since moving to Punta Cana in 2008 - touch wood etc.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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dv8, having had that terrifying experience. Would you do something different if the same situation arises?

really, i cannot say. at the time when it happened many people called me an idiot for fighting back. but i was not thinking. it was an instinctive reaction. i did not plan anything, i just acted. the guy who attacked me was thin and small, roughly my size. not that it would matter since he was the one with the gun...
 

drSix

Silver
Oct 13, 2013
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36
Been here 2 years... Oldest to newest

Jig saw disappeared the first month I was here, was in a locked cabinet

Got hoodwinked by the "throw something under the car to make it boom" scam. We were new, don't judge me :-(

Neighbor scammed me out of RD$1,000 when he told me he'd rent a water pump and pump water out of his cistern and not mine. (Still new, should have know better though!)

Paid a water bill for a year, never got water

Took my daughter to CMC with a broken leg, they tortured her and made her worse. Treatment and care have easily been criminal negligence in a US hospital.

Wife got her purse stolen; she was sitting at a stop light with her purse on the passenger seat. Guy grabbed it and took off on a moto. Money, credit cards, and passport gone.

PN stopped me and told me I had to follow him to the police station and pay a RD$2,000 fine for something I didn't need, he said RD$400 on the spot would suffice.

Caught workers stealing money
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
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really, i cannot say. at the time when it happened many people called me an idiot for fighting back. but i was not thinking. it was an instinctive reaction. i did not plan anything, i just acted. the guy who attacked me was thin and small, roughly my size. not that it would matter since he was the one with the gun...
I'm sure I would have done the same thing - instinct takes over good sense!
 

Mcinbrass

Bronze
Jan 2, 2002
835
66
48
How about you Mcinbrass, have you been a victim of crime in the DR. I know plenty of Dominicans that have been victims, but nobody in my wife's family has been a victim, yet.

I have not been the victim of a crime, I have been hustled though(form of a crime, I guess). I have felt the wanton eyes of a would-be criminal staring at me though. Last Nov I was waiting for a carro concho after leaving the casino on Independencia I would say at 1 AM or so. This guy tried to pry my cellphone from my back pocket as I was entering the car. He didnt get it at the same time he was hitting me with these aluminum polio walkers.
 

drSix

Silver
Oct 13, 2013
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I have felt the wanton eyes of a would-be criminal staring at me though. .

That sounds like something a crazed feminist would say.

Eyerape- "He made eye contact with me in public without my consent, he was super creepy"
 

harry myrtle beach

New member
Sep 16, 2015
226
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I started visiting to Santo Domingo in 1986. Those were the days you could walk the malecom and many other places without fear of being robbed even at 2:00 AM. Sad to say those days are gone. One needs to take much more care theses days even in broad daylight. I will be living here for 3 more years for personal reasons. If I am here after that it will not be in the Capital. Hope to be moving back to South Carolina or maybe Florida.
 

drstock

Silver
Oct 29, 2010
4,502
2,086
113
Cabarete
I've been pick-pocketed twice and attempted twice more, but now I know the warning signs, hence the last two thwarted. No point in informing police.

Overall, I feel about as safe here as anywhere else - touch wood!
 

Mcinbrass

Bronze
Jan 2, 2002
835
66
48
I've been pick-pocketed twice and attempted twice more, but now I know the warning signs, hence the last two thwarted. No point in informing police.

Overall, I feel about as safe here as anywhere else - touch wood!

What are the warning signs?
 

CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
11,719
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OP starts lots of threads but always negative. Crime every where in life buddy. Nothing anyone can do to control another persons criminal intent/ actions.
 

ZC1

Member
Dec 8, 2013
179
6
18
OP starts lots of threads but always negative. Crime every where in life buddy. Nothing anyone can do to control another persons criminal intent/ actions.

I agree. Used to live in Miami - about 5,000 violent crimes a year there in 2014 and over 21,000 property crimes with a population of about 1/2 a million plus tourists. Santo Domingo has twice the population and while I do not have access to stats, I am guessing violent crimes are far less.

I feel safer here as Domincans will run towards a crime and chase a suspect wheras in the states people run away and too often ignore.
 

Eleutheria

New member
Jun 23, 2015
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As my foreign landlord told me once, matter-of-factly, "they are a country of thieves".
I tend to agree.
He, by the way, considers his Dominican "wife" of nearly 20 years, a "good Dominican" (his words). She is not, though. I have noticed her lying to swindle money out of him, yet she seems to have genuine affection for him. He is a pretty good guy actually. I feel sorry for him.
I guess you can take the girl out of the barrio but…
There have been quite a few robberies of foreign people in my neighbourhood and even in my building, some even violent. I have also heard of even more Dominican on Dominican crime here in La Romana, with the perpetrator often being identified as a "friend". i.e. my "friend" copied my gate key and stole my car and now he is in jail.
I am totally paranoid about security and have my fortress well-fortified but hey, if they want in badly enough, I'm sure they will find a way. I am very very careful on the street with my bag and very very careful who I let into my house.
I have been swindled out of money by one "fren", maybe 2000 pesos, and have had it attempted a couple of times by other "frens". I now have no more frens here.
I am regularly robbed by merchants, vendors, utilities, professionals and institutions here. There is nothing I can do about it. I can stomp off to the colmado or the moto up the road, but eventually they will do it too.
I engage in the economy in the most minimal way possible, buying only what I absolutely need from the most reliable sources I have found.
Overall, it's a horrible way to live and one of the main reasons I am leaving. The only plus for me is that spending so much time at home and online has helped me professionally, so I was able to secure a better position that will enable me to travel more. I am really hoping that will be more enjoyable than being here full-time.
That is literally the only good thing I can think of.
They just have a thieving mentality I guess. Tigueraje. What a way to live.
I know there are folks on here that really enjoy the country and I think that's great. But personally, I think living so defensively all the time really takes the enjoyment out of life. Considering that this is a Caribbean island, I think it is a stressful place to live. I can hardly wait to leave.
 

drSix

Silver
Oct 13, 2013
1,323
0
36
As my foreign landlord told me once, matter-of-factly, "they are a country of thieves".

Yea, see, that's the thing. I've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, had the wool pulled over my eyes, robbed, scammed, manipulated, and gringo taxed... But, I've never felt threatened. I keep my wallet and possession close, I am a hell of lot more vigilant when it comes to scammers, and have learned how not to be taken advantage of. I've never felt like someone is going to hurt me, or my family. I'm not afraid of walking around the campo, or downtown Sosua. I'm not scared of driving at night. The only reason I do avoid these things, is the harassment.

Everyone on this island wants money. Dominicans will take thousands of pesos from you, expats will take thousands of dollars.