A man experienced perhaps one of the biggest scares of his life, when armed men followed him in his vehicle. Then they got into the car, forcing the owner to accompany them, but in a risky move, the victim managed to throw himself into the street, fleeing from his attackers.
“In response to the call for help from a man who arrived at the Ciudad del Valle Police substation where he reported that his vehicle had been stolen and that he managed to escape by throwing himself out of it on the road that leads from Cali to the municipality of Candelaria,” said the commander of the Candelaria district, Major Félix Aragón. The case was reported yesterday by the Cali Metropolitan Police.
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“The vehicle was recovered, a modified traumatic weapon was seized, capture a man and apprehend two minors, said Major Aragón, also explaining that there was an exchange of shots between the criminals and uniformed members of the Public Force.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office reported that six people were prosecuted for qualified and aggravated theft of items valued at 20 million pesos, this year, in Cali. One of those cases happened on April 11, when a man who was with his daughter was surprised by two strangers on a motorcycle who threatened him with what appeared to be a firearm. The men took jewelry and money from them.
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According to the report, men accounted for six out of every 10 complaints. But in both genders, a reduction of close to 14 percent was recorded when comparing the information with that of the first quarter of 2023.
Likewise, in Cali Como Vamos they highlighted that theft from people, the type of robbery that most afflicts citizens in the capital of the department, has been decreasing. In this first quarter of the year, according to the document, 5,565 reports of theft from people were filed, 14.2% less compared to the cases reported in the same period of 2023 (6,485 cases), that is, 920 fewer cases.
In half of the theft reports, the complainant stated that no type of weapon was used when committing the crime (i.e., 2,747 cases out of 5,565). “Additionally, firearms were used in 30 out of every 100 cases (1,652 complaints), bladed weapons in 13 out of every 100 (733 complaints) and blunt weapons were used in 6 out of every 100 cases (319 complaints).
Thefts of motorcycles and automobiles, according to data collected by Cali Como Vamos, also decreased. In the first quarter of 2024, 621 reports of motorcycle theft were reported in Cali, 21.8% less compared to the same period in 2023 (794).
The Cali Como Vamos report shows that, according to the information reported by the complainants, the type of weapon most used in motorcycle thefts in Cali was the master key (in 38 out of every 100 cases it was used), followed by the use of firearms (in 29 out of every 100 cases). In 30 out of every 100 complaints, citizens stated that no weapon was used to carry out the crime.
“In the first quarter of 2024, 357 complaints of vehicle theft were reported in Cali, 6.1% less compared to the same period in 2023 (380 complaints), which implies a decrease of 23 cases. It stands out that the number of complaints in The first quarter of 2024 is the lowest in the last decade (2015-2024) for said period,” they say in Cali Como Vamos.
Regarding the recovery of stolen cars, “the National Police reports that in the first quarter of 2024, 78 vehicles that had been stolen were recovered, 2 more cases compared to the same period in 2023 (76 vehicles recovered). Cali contributed 6 out of every 100 vehicles recovered nationwide (1,329 vehicles were recovered in the country in the first quarter). By type of vehicle recovered, cars and trucks were the most common.
The mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, has highlighted these setbacks, taking into account that in one year there were averages of between 15,000 and 24,000 reports of theft from people in the city. “We notice that thefts continue to decrease. We see a drop in this crime of 24% in general terms. In the MIO, they decreased by 50%,” said Eder.
