My girlfriend and I were held up at gunpoint two days ago in a house we had rented in Las Terrenas. We were living out of town, two kilometers down Abre Grande Road, in a small complex that supposedly had a 24-hour guard. The men entered through a window in the back of the house and held us up in the kitchen, then took us to the bedroom. They tried to tie me up but I wouldn't let them, then they pushed my girlfriend back on the on the bed with the gun in her mouth. They then went through all our things two or three times, seemingly taking their time. They somehow knew no one was coming.
When the man with the pistol opened the chamber to show me he had live rounds in the gun, the bullet fell out and he had to remove the clip to load it again. Right then we ran out the back door screaming for help. The guard was nowhere to be found, nor were all the maintenance workers who had been around before. The man with the pistol chased after us and fired at us 5 times. I saw the bullets hit the ground around us. We kept running to the landlord's house. Once there, the guard and maintenance men were unconcerned for some reason. We were screaming and they went about their business. We heard two more shots behind the neighbor's house and climbed a fence and kept running across a field. Then we heard one more and hid for a couple minutes then continued down the road to a construction site we had seen.
The police were kind but largely unhelpful. They found some of our things, nothing of value, on a road headed up into the mountains. But no one would go into the jungle where the thieves had gone. Now the matter seems to have been forgotten. We have not heard from the police or the landlord since. We lost 2 laptops worth $4,000 and $400 in cash plus watches, etc.
The objects and money are not important. What is is that everyone says there is no crime here and that this rarely happens. And yet everyone we have spoken too knows of this happening to someone - in the last year. These thieves were bold and took their time. We don't know what they would have done if we had not run. Maybe nothing. Maybe something awful. When we ran, they didn't just let us go and take our stuff. They chased after us and shot at us many times.
This was malicious, no doubt spurred by a ****ty political and economic situation. Nonetheless, it was malice and I think people moving here should know it exists and is acted upon often.
When the man with the pistol opened the chamber to show me he had live rounds in the gun, the bullet fell out and he had to remove the clip to load it again. Right then we ran out the back door screaming for help. The guard was nowhere to be found, nor were all the maintenance workers who had been around before. The man with the pistol chased after us and fired at us 5 times. I saw the bullets hit the ground around us. We kept running to the landlord's house. Once there, the guard and maintenance men were unconcerned for some reason. We were screaming and they went about their business. We heard two more shots behind the neighbor's house and climbed a fence and kept running across a field. Then we heard one more and hid for a couple minutes then continued down the road to a construction site we had seen.
The police were kind but largely unhelpful. They found some of our things, nothing of value, on a road headed up into the mountains. But no one would go into the jungle where the thieves had gone. Now the matter seems to have been forgotten. We have not heard from the police or the landlord since. We lost 2 laptops worth $4,000 and $400 in cash plus watches, etc.
The objects and money are not important. What is is that everyone says there is no crime here and that this rarely happens. And yet everyone we have spoken too knows of this happening to someone - in the last year. These thieves were bold and took their time. We don't know what they would have done if we had not run. Maybe nothing. Maybe something awful. When we ran, they didn't just let us go and take our stuff. They chased after us and shot at us many times.
This was malicious, no doubt spurred by a ****ty political and economic situation. Nonetheless, it was malice and I think people moving here should know it exists and is acted upon often.
