Bullfights, car thefts, doors without brass handles or without an electric intercom, thieves who They climb walls to enter buildings through windows.. Day or night, criminals have the perfect exit to escape: the train tracks at the Colegiales station and the Zabala bridge.
“They climb there and jump to the other side. They run like there’s no tomorrow“says a neighbor, pointing out the noticeably sunken fabric that overlooks the train tracks and countless abandoned formations, which, according to pedestrians, thieves use to hide.
For 40 years, Marcela Cristina Benítez has been tending her kiosk in front of the “Alexander Fleming” Private Institute of Oncology. “Knock on wood, nothing ever happened to me,” the woman prays.
“Since the clinic has been there, they park nice cars and the thieves see this and see money. There is no police presence here, I can tell you that as I spend the entire afternoon standing here. You always hear that they snatch or rob those who come to the clinic. Maybe the most affected are the cars because they take off the wheels or the battery“, describes the woman to Clarion on the long row of parked cars located on Crámer and Zabala.
The location is a perfect equation for crime: high-end vehicles parked on the sides of the road, with no movement around and, a few meters away, a bridge and a large gap of wire in poor condition to escape.
The state of the fence that separates the train tracks is an escape route for thieves. Photo Luciano Thieberger.
The neighbors assured Clarion that the “most compromised” areas are Crámer or Conesa streets. “There is a lot here patent theftbut if you go two blocks ahead of the clinic it is very dangerous and you will be break the car windows to get something out of you. “Conesa is very shady,” says an employee of the private institute.
“Do you remember when they loved each other recently? steal oxygen tubes What did we leave leaning on the wall?” his colleague reminded him. “They don’t know what else they can get out of you,” the man responds.
Crámer and Zabala, one of the corners where parked cars are stolen. Photo Luciano Thieberger
When walking through the streets of Conesa, Zapiola, Aguilar and Conde, there are few houses that do not have the security alarm posters. Ana attends from her window. Her voice can barely be heard. With fear, and without approaching the gate, she asks: “What do you need?”
From the same place, without looking out, he manages to say: “I live with alarms, less than two months ago I was robbed and the last time they took the bronze handle of the gate. Now there are several going around fishing. They steal from you and they run onto the tracks and others hide in the abandoned cars,” he describes.
Neighbors report theft of bronze from the doors of their homes.
“The night is complicated,” admits a parking lot employee on Conesa Street. “Many times cars enter with broken glass because they robbed him on the street and they are asking us to please have a place to park. The cars that come to this area are very expensive, when they bring them I try to put them further into the background so that they cannot be seen,” explains the man.
From his booth, the employee has seen different episodes throughout the day. “On one occasion they left a Fiat parked on the sidewalk and a man appeared with a cricket loosening a wheel. I thought it was his car, I wanted to help him and he told me not to bother. “She loosened the screws, two others came and took the wheel,” she says.
In the vicinity of the Colegiales station there are schools and kindergartens, which also do not escape the daily robberies in the area. “Parents are given key inhibitors when they come down to leave the kids at the door. We have already reported this several times. We have asked for a meeting so that they can put us in safe corridors and nothing happens. Even the times these robberies happened, there is never anyone who can help us,” says an employee at the school located in Zapiola.
Thieves take advantage of the Miter Railway land to escape and hide. Photo Luciano Thieberger.
Estela has had her business on the corner of Teodoro García and Crámer for 38 years. “We have been back in the area for a month and a half. A week passed since the time they tried to climb the roof of the grocery store to go to the departments above and less than three days ago they broke a car window and stole a car tire. Everything becomes more complicated here,” he says.
A neighborhood representative who preferred not to give her name questioned the street lighting. “It’s terrible. There is a lack of lighting columns and this clearly encourages robberies much more. We have chats between neighbors because they break into our cars and rob us in the street. The City Government ignores the complaints. It’s been quite difficult to live in the neighborhood. We are worried because this is increasing,” she points out.
In response to the query of Clarionfrom the City Police assured: “Taking into consideration the calls to the 911 Emergency Service and those complaints made between February 26 to April 28, 2023 and 2024 in the vicinity of La Pampa, Conesa, Maure and Ciudad de La Peace, we observe that there is a 40% reduction in thefts and 11% in robberies”.
“The data is tentative and derives from the dynamic map with which we work and which is under constant evaluation,” they added.
According to the Buenos Aires force, “the area has 24-hour coverage by personnel on foot and by motorcycles and patrol cars.” When asked about who is responsible for monitoring the railway property, they assured that it is the territory of the Federal police. Now, in the event that a chase begins on public roads and spreads to the roads, the Buenos Aires authorities clarified that they can intervene.
