Cross border bandits fired on police and BDF last night - as they recovered a vehicle that had been stolen.
Events started to unfold around 07:30, when 44-year-old Byron Manuel Guevara, a Guatemalan farmer from Bullet Tree ran to the village police station. He told police that he and his family, including his wife and three kids, aged 3 to 13, were in his 1985 Toyota pickup on the El Pilar Road when three men emerged from the bushes, with their shirts tied over their faces. Each carried a firearm, and they forced the vehicle to stop; one of them demanded the farmer's money and the vehicle.
Guevara scrambled his family out of the pickup and gave the bandits his wallet with $500.00 inside. The family then dashed into the bushes to hide as the men drove off in the pickup.
Police have a number of active patrols in the area and were quick to respond. The Western composite patrol - which is police and BDF - heard a vehicle moving slowly down a backroad in the area. They responded and found the vehicle bogged on an off-road that leads straight to "El toro" Guatemala.
But the bandits opened fire on them - using a shotgun and a handgun. The police and BDF returned fire - but the men escaped into the bushes. The team combed the area but didn't find them. But they did get back the pickup truck, which was returned to the owner.
The press asked the Police Commissioner about the case today, and here's what he had to say:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Last night the police responded to the information of a robbery in the Pilar area and based on that the composite team which was assigned to the west went into the area with a view to see if they will be able to locate the robbers. From the information obtained from the complainant is that he was robbed of his vehicle by three individuals. When the police went into the area through a road that would lead to Guatemala, they saw a pickup truck belonging to the complainant, going up a hill which would taken them into Guatemala and upon the police approaching, the individuals fired shots at the police and the police returned fire. They eventually abandoned vehicle and ran off into the bushes. Police remained and secured the area until assistance came in after which the area was properly searched and the individuals were not found. The vehicle was recovered and is now with the police in San Ignacio."
Reporter
"Is there a permanent police presence in that area?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We do have a composite team for the west and the main area of concentration for them is that Bullet Tree/Calla Creek Road."
This happened about half a mile from Calla creek village which was the site of robbery earlier this year. Police suspect these may be the same bandits who had been active in and around Arenal in February and March.
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