Attempted Car Jacking exiting Puerto Plata Airport

[windeguy]

I went to the left, which is east

.................BUT what ADRIANB and another poster stated regarding hitting something MAY and I mean MAY be a possible scenerio........
.........we were at the airport at the same time..............

We came out of the airport and turned RIGHT to go to Puerto Plata.........
There was a girl on a blue moped which had been "hit" and there were pieces of the blue bike all over the ground..............there were a few motorchoncos standing around pointing etc.........but clearly the bike had been hit by a car!

.............I don't know what made me look, but since I was a passenger in the car, I had time to notice.............This would have been right after the flights arrived from JFK and Paris..................

I am sorry to hear that someone may have been hit that was on a moped.
We went towards Sosua and not in the direction of Puerto Plata. My pick up at the airport was from the Miami flight.

 

[windeguy]

It was nothing to do with blowing the horn

I must admit I'm pretty heavy on the horn when out and about in DR as is everyone and it has never even got me a second glance. The only thing that I know really upsets Dominicans is if you call them stupid, even as a joke and light hearted 'oh, don't be stupid' this seems to be taken to heart no matter how you mean it and can change a situation in an instant.
In fact the horn is used as it is supposed to be used in the DR, as a warning to other drivers to get out the way or you are there so look out.
I doubt this would have caused such a big issue.

Just to repeat. I just tapped the horn at the car in front of me after I was stopped behind that car speaking with the moto. This was after about 10 seconds of waiting for them. No aggressive behavior on our part at all. This would not cause an incident such as this.

 

[windeguy]

You are correct about this

As a Dominican living almost his entire life in Santo Domingo and travelling back and fort to Vegas, I notice that here in the USA sometimes people act with an attitude that won't fly in the DR, I sometimes say to myself "Ay mi madre cuantos golpes le dieran en Santo Domingo si hicieran eso alla".

In the USA people get away by yelling at each other and or honking their beeps like if there's no tomorrow, going to offices with attitude for no real reason and then when they do the same in the DR they start complaining why they got in trouble , or why the police won't listen to them. Juanita's thread in the stickies in Living explain this phenomenon very well.

That's not to say that I believe windeguy acted that way, or doesn't know that, after all he has 7 years living in the DR and should know that by first experience several times now. But I get the feeling that we are not getting the full story here as other poster said.

You are correct that I know not to use rude road behavior here. Just tapping the horn to notify someone that I was behind them waiting for them to finish a conversation and move on would not have been the cause of this incident. I was never the kind to use rude road behavior in the US, but then I didn't live in Las Vegas.

 

[windeguy]

Those that understand the situation as I have so far presented it, thank you. Those that do not and need more clarification, please ask away. In either case, I have a very thick skin.

Simply put, these people that gathered around our car appeared to want to rob us. That is the opinion of all of us in the car. Nothing more than that. Call it what you will, a car jacking, or just a simple robbery of people leaving the airport. That is how we all saw it.

 

[ExtremeR]

Windeguy sorry if you felt offended or anything, you don't need to explain yourself, everything indicates that in fact it was an attempted mug or hijack and maybe the guy in the bike wasn't one of the gang members and let you pass through. Yes I know it is a waste of time to put a querella in the police destacamento but I believe it is the responsible way to deal with it, you never know if those police guys were the exception and start patrolling that area thus preventing another mug attempt.

In the worst of cases you will keep you querella for yourself and if something happens in that spot you can denounce that you reported a mug attempt and they didn't listen.

 

[windeguy]

Thank you for the explanation

Windeguy sorry if you felt offended or anything, you don't need to explain yourself, everything indicates that in fact it was an attempted mug or hijack and maybe the guy in the bike wasn't one of the gang members and let you pass through. Yes I know it is a waste of time to put a querella in the police destacamento but I believe it is the responsible way to deal with it, you never know if those police guys were the exception and start patrolling that area thus preventing another mug attempt.

In the worst of cases you will keep you querella for yourself and if something happens in that spot you can denounce that you reported a mug attempt and they didn't listen.

While it is doubtful that I will go to the police on this, I do appreciate the explanation of the querella. It has been all too much our experience that going to the police when something happens to us will actually cause us more harm than good.

 

[J D Sauser]

Maybe a letter to the ministry of tourism instead?
Secretar?a de Estado de Turismo - Sugerencias

Click on the drop menu to "denuncias".

... J-D.

 

[Lambada]

Yes I know it is a waste of time to put a querella in the police destacamento but I believe it is the responsible way to deal with it, you never know if those police guys were the exception and start patrolling that area thus preventing another mug attempt.

I don't normally disagree with much of what you write, ExtremeR, but I have to on this occasion. It is the responsible way to deal with it ONLY if you have a good personal relationship over a number of years with one of those police officers to whom you are reporting. Otherwise you don't know if the police are taking a rake-off, being paid to look the other way or actually running the outside airport ladrones themselves. It's PP, lot of fired police around (see thread in Government forum) still awaiting their Court case.

Sorry, I know it's a rotten thing to say, but if you live by a motto of damage control, then you don't behave in a way which potentially makes you a target, unless you really know what you are doing & the cause is important enough. Windeguy knows what he is doing but this cause isn't important enough (i.e. no damage was done). Reporting to Tourism & Airport Administration would be much better IMHO.

 

[badpiece33]

I don't think it could have been a car jacking, cause if they wanted to they would have car jacked your vehicle at that point.

I believe those guys were there for support to the other guy cause most likely he got upset that you interrupted his conversation with his buddy in the middle of a highway. Some dominicans think it's fine for them to block traffic to talk to their friends and get upset if you bother them. Perhaps they wanted to scare you off, and probably saw that you reached in to get a gun..

Doing a car jacking on a major highway, in front of the airport, and with 4 people inside is plain stupid.

If they were going to carjack you they would have done it,plain and simple!!! They would have broken your window or put a gun straight to your head and taken whatever they were going to do. These guys were just some assh#les trying to intimidate you for blowing your horn not carjackers.

 

[Bob K]

Whew!

Windeguy,

I was going to respond to your email but let me say. Thankfully you all are ok. Having known you for over 4 years now I know you are a straight talker and don't give in to BS. It was i am sure it happened as you preceived it and again i am glad everyone is ok. I just hope i could have reacted in the same way and not just run the guy over.

Bob K

 

[Hillbilly]

After 6 pages of comments on this, let me say that my initial take was that this was not ever a car-jacking, but the mob support of a fellow motoconchista. BAsically, a bunch of axxholes trying to intimidate you for having the NERVE to honk at their axxhole buddy who was blocking the road.

I am happy that nothing worse happened, and that the OP's initial reaction was calm and cautious. For that he is to be congratulated.

I do think that the suggestion to send a note to the Minister of Tourism is fine, although I doubt that much will come of it..

Peace, all.

HB

 

[Chip]

BAsically, a bunch of axxholes trying to intimidate you for having the NERVE to honk at their axxhole buddy who was blocking the road.

I don't have the pleasure of traveling to the north coast much, but I still find it hard to believe even there one simple toot of the horn will get you all that.

I use my bike frequently here in Santiago and it is not uncommon for people to hit their horn to get my attention at a stoplight or wherever. I do it is well and don't think anybody cares. In fact, in Licey a couple of weeks ago at a PRD funcion, the road was completely blocked both ways, and like all good Dominicans I waited probably 30 seconds patiently until I noticed the guy in the lead car going the other way was stopped in the road and not waiting on anybody, just trying to show that he had a nice jeep and political connections. I figured the dunderhead in our lane was doing the same and I leaned on the horn for a good minute until all the other surrounding cars did the same. Finally the privons got the message and cleared out. No yelling or dirty looks were exchanged, just a few choice words of mine muttered under my breath.

 

[Malibook]

These guys were just some assh#les trying to intimidate you for blowing your horn not carjackers.

This seems like the most likely scenario to me, not that I would know.

Dominicans do honk their horns often but usually it is just to let people know they are there or to salut a pretty chica.

Of course they do often honk when they are p!ssed off and usually nobody gives a sh!t but sometimes when someone is being a stupid ignorant idiot and they get honked they may take offense as they understand the meaning of the honk.
This is probably even more likely if the motocon thinks it is a tourist in a nice vehicle that he could only dream of owning.

In any case, things could have escalated into a very ugly scene and I'm glad that it did not.

 

[Chip]

I find it hard to believe that everyone is espousing that this confrontation by 14 people occured because of a simple toot of the horn, please.

 

[catcherintherye]

I think Windeguy is the person who was in the best position to make an accurate assessment of the situation. Unless someone else actually observed what happened, everything else is just pure speculation.

It was clear to Windeguy that there was some level of organization to the incident, and that would indicate a planned assault. Whatever reason behind the assault was, it is the organized aspect of it that is most disturbing to me.

 

[Malibook]

I find it hard to believe that everyone is espousing that this confrontation by 14 people occured because of a simple toot of the horn, please.

I don't find it hard to believe that a motocon moron and his buddies would try to intimidate a gringo tourist in a luxury vehicle who is honking at them for being inconsiderate rude idiots.
Perhaps they thought it was some pompous visitor looking down on them and giving them sh!t on their turf.

I would imagine that robberies and carjackings at the airport would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Although this is a potentially lucrative spot, it is also extremely risky.
I would think they can find worthwhile targets away from high risk places like the airport, Playa Dorada, etc.

Regardless of the motive, the situation could have gotten very ugly and it's a good thing that it did not.

 

[Black Dog]

But carjacking is a crime and, as we all know, "there is no crime in tourist areas"!

Windeguy, I'm just glad that it was no worse and that you and your friends are OK!!!!!!!!

 

[Chip]

I don't find it hard to believe that a motocon moron and his buddies would try to intimidate a gringo tourist in a luxury vehicle who is honking at them for being inconsiderate rude idiots.
Perhaps they thought it was some pompous visitor looking down on them and giving them sh!t on their turf.

I would imagine that robberies and carjackings at the airport would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Although this is a potentially lucrative spot, it is also extremely risky.
I would think they can find worthwhile targets away from high risk places like the airport, Playa Dorada, etc.

Regardless of the motive, the situation could have gotten very ugly and it's a good thing that it did not.

I have lived here in the DR for 4 years now and have never, ever seen anything like this for something so insignificant.

Carjackings do happen during daylight:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/372844-post75.html

 

[windeguy]

I don't believe a short honk on my horn caused this, no way.

If they were going to carjack you they would have done it,plain and simple!!! They would have broken your window or put a gun straight to your head and taken whatever they were going to do. These guys were just some assh#les trying to intimidate you for blowing your horn not carjackers.

The way the situation happened and the minimal amount of horn blowing I did, I respectfully disagree that this was about me blowing my horn at the young man on the moto. I have never had any such reaction to a simple short honk on my horn before. Nothing leads me to believe that a honk from my horn was a cause for what happened. The young man on the moto said nothing and showed little emotion during all of this. He was just a part of the game, whatever it was, being played.

 

[windeguy]

Point of clarification, it was 7 people and not 14

I find it hard to believe that everyone is espousing that this confrontation by 14 people occured because of a simple toot of the horn, please.

Chip, I and all of my passengers, two were Dominican, agree with you that a simple horn honk did not cause this incident. Point of clarification, it was 7 people around our car. My original post made it sound like 14 due to a poor choice of wording on my part.

Please keep in mind also that my reason for posting this was to make others aware of such a potential situation. I am not the type to seek my 15 minutes of fame from such a situation. I am on this board to try and help other avoid problems here.