7 News Belize

Best Known Taco Vendor Robbed in Broad Daylight
posted (August 6, 2009)

The Baeza brothers, they pioneered taco vending in Belize City, bringing the skill from Orange Walk probably back in the early 90’s. Before that, finding a street side taco in Belize City was like finding a hot meat pie in Chetumal – rare, very rare. Gustavo Baeza first set up shop at the Batty Brothers bus terminal and then he and his brother set up stalls on Central American Boulevard and Cemetery Road. And you can still see him there every morning dealing with taco-hungry hordes who, despite the fact that you can find a taco vendor on every street corner, will only eat from Baeza. And lurking somewhere in that crowd this morning was a gunman who wanted to rob Baeza of his daily earnings. He assaulted Baeza at gunpoint - Jacqueline Godwin found out what happened next.

Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Belize City Police were taking no chances this morning as they tried to track down the man who held up and robbed popular taco vendor Gustavo Baeza. Some of the young men they searched and questioned even work for the victim who was at his taco stand at the corner of Banak Street and Central American Boulevard when he was approached by a pair of daring robbers who held a gun against their victim’s head and made off with several hundred dollars in cash.

Gustavo Baeza, Robbery Victim
“Well the two guys came, rushed at me with the gun, and one the gun right at my head and I had my one and I couldn’t haul it because if I hauled it, they would have shot me. I am sure sure I would have gotten shot.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
“Were they wearing masks?”

Gustavo Baeza,
“Yes the two of them. I can’t recognize none. I know one of them had on a white shirt and the other one had on a black pants and a grey shirt.

One shot was fired. They went on their bicycle with the small change but I can’t say it is he or the next one because I didn’t recognize them. The thing happened so fast that I can’t tell you who did it.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
“Were you surprised because you’re usually crowded, so were you surprised that they would actually think of holding you up?”

Gustavo Baeza,
“Well I can’t say about that because everyday I am here but I didn’t expect they would come here. But maybe I should have expected anything like that then because last, bout one month and a half they harassed that boy right there by the corner and right now it touched me. It was my turn maybe.”

The shot struck the rear right passenger window of Gustavo Baeza’s pickup truck where he was standing when he was held up.

Gustavo Baeza,
“They took my wallet, they took my wallet with about $700 and the small change was about $300 in small change, dollar coins and them. On and they took that girl’s phone which was in the bag too.”

It still has not been determined if the bullet that struck the pickup came from the robber’s gun or Gustavo Baeza’s own weapon which we understand he fired after the fleeing robbers. Jacqueline Godwin reporting for 7News.

And while Gustavo Baeza may have had a gun put to his head and one thousand dollars robbed, the hardest working man in taco-land carried on after the assault, and continued to serve the crowd... So far police have no leads in this case.

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