hi everyone...it is with great sadness and distress that i post this, but i think it is important for people to know.

my close friend was visiting me from the States this past week and she had been here for 3 days when she was attacked on the beach Saturday evening. she is 42 years old, blonde, fit and a bit over 6 feet tall. she was walking alone from Tropical Paradise to her cabin down south around 8:30pm. when she was passing Sea Beezzz (or thereabouts), a man came behind her out of nowhere and put her in a chokehold and brought her to the ground. she screamed but no one came. he said he would kill her if she didn't stop screaming and asked where her money was. she told him to take her bag. when he didn't do it and instead started strangling her again and trying to drag her toward the water, she realized it was not just a mugging and started fighting hard. she squirmed out of his grasp and, from the ground, started kicking and flailing and screaming. he tried to restrain her again but couldn't. he ran off and she ran back to Tropical Paradise and contacted the police.

she has minor physical injuries, such as two black eyes, a sprained finger and a sore and bruised neck. she is traumatized but will be okay at some point. she went home the next day, shortening her trip by 3 days.

the police believe they have a strong suspect, someone who lives on the island and has been convicted of sexual assault in the past. here is the description my friend provided the police:

Stocky, but not heavy, Hispanic male, aged between 20-40. He had short black hair that seemed to be styled with gel. He did not have facial hair, tattoos, or any notable features that she could see in the brief time she saw his face. He had on baggy red athletic shorts that hung to the knee. She thinks she saw a black tank top with some sort of circular logo or lettering (in white?) on the front. It is hard to say how tall he is but she believes from the angle of attack that he is shorter than her. Perhaps around 5 feet 10 inches or so.

we have got to do something about the safety here on the island! there are no lights on the beach and the police don't patrol it, even though there is constant thievery to the properties on the beach. now grown, sober women are getting physically attacked at 8:30 in the evening?! i think we need to come together as a community and do something ourselves...

sara

ps...the police have appeared to take this attack seriously and have been investigating it. they have someone in custody.

Very sorry to hear about this attack. I hope that they catch the perpetrator and lock him up.

Citizens on Patrol groups can be helpful when you have a small police contingent. The community policing department can assist in helping organize such a group in conjunction with the police department.

Good they have somebody in custody - let's hope it is the perp, and that he is convicted, sentenced and removed from the island.

I truly hope your friend has a complete recovery from this attack--both physically and emotionally. I can assure you, both will take time, but will happen.

I will say a prayer for your friend's complete recovery.

thanks turtle girl...

Sorry I was remiss in wishing that your friend recover quickly also. I hope that she will be able to overcome this awful episode in her life.

no you weren't remiss but thanks Amanda and all for your kind thoughts...

i hope this guy is removed from the island and that we can somehow make some positive changes toward safety here.

That sounds so similar to an attack on an acquaintance of mine, that took place about 2 years ago in front of Ramon's, on San Pedro. Approx. same time of evening, also relatively fit sober woman walking alone. As she explained it to me, she was grabbed from behind around her neck and asked for her money. She struggled to give him her purse which was slung across her, but he just continued to drag her into the water until they were around knee deep. She says she doesn't know what then happened because suddenly he let go and ran away. Don't recall if she knew any details about how he looked. She was pretty shaken up, but don't think anything worse than the bruising from being strangled from behind and dragged. This happened within a day or two of my wallet being snatched from me on the beach at around 8 pm. The scenario for me was different, as I was approached from the front, as if by someone who knew me . . .though I didn't recognize him and he was gone in a flash with da cash. He didn't get much from me, but darn, I loved that wallet. And heck, it really shakes a person up and the experience tainted my pleasure and changed my habits. Frankly, one shouldn't have to be concerned about walking in town, on the beach at that time of day. Something must be done on both islands.

OK, let this post get away from me. Sorry about that. All I meant to say was that the MO is so similar between what happened on Caye Caulker and what happened to my friend, that one would wonder if it's the same guy?

Although I do not live on the island, I plan to in the near future. I think a Citizens on Patrol group is a great idea. It usually discourages people from doing wrong if they know others are watching besides the police who can't be everywhere at once.

Just my 2 cents.

seashell: frighteningly similar! i wonder too if this guy has been operating for a couple of years. hate to think there is more than one with that MO.

hi babsy...yes, a citizens patrol group was what i was thinking. i had hoped with my post that some local cc people would chime in and say they are up for it. besides the human factor of how damaging it is to be attacked or stolen from, what about the effect on tourism and money? my friend left three days early. she had planned to purchase a snorkel tour, a few meals out at local restaurants, more nights at a hotel, etc. that man took not only from her, but from the local businesses. perhaps that is the incentive that is needed to inspire action...

The vast majority of people that live on Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker DO NOT USE THIS MESSAGE BOARD.

This board is mainly used by people that are considering coming to the islands for vacations as well as a few business owners and resident ex-pats.

There is a very small number of native islanders that chime in since they are not participants.

If you wish to start up a citizens on patrol program I would highly recommend that you go and have a serious chat with Sgt Wade at the Caye Caulker Police Station. He is very well versed in community policing and he has the ability to assist with training etc.

There is a fine line between a citizens patrol group and a lynch mob.

Which is where the training comes in.

In our community we have Community Police. The are actually police officers whose responsibility it is to know everyone in a specific area, their habits, etc. That said, some communities have a volunteer force of citizens who also perform the same service, but do not have police powers.

In either case, the object is to have eyes on the street that are visible and whose goal is to prevent crime from even starting by knowing what is happening in the area, not enforcing the law. Trained citizens with police radios can be an effective deterant to the types of crime prevalent on CC. Our city has managed to drive gangs and drugs from the streets of our community (for the most part) and that means less larceny and other kinds of crime. It can work in CC too.

good point amanda! and i'll start at the police station. thanks.

The South Ambergris Caye Neighbourhood Watch is a group of citizens that banded together to create a strong presence of awareness of the area. The group identified the problem areas and tackled them together. To begin with the group members took turns patrolling the area and eventually began a program that involves hired patrol officers that act as surveillance and security as well as having the skills to provide basic first aid and road assistance. Since the program started incidents of crime have dropped immensely and the residents and visitors have a feeling of safety. The patrol team works at the San Pedro Police Department southern substation.

Yes it took a while to get the group organized, it took some energy and money too. Many of the residents underwent citizens on patrol or special police constable training as well as first aid/cpr courses so that the ultimate result was not only a deterrent of crime but also a first response support team.

Sgt Wade was instrumental in assisting us in organizing and training the SACNW group.

this sounds very promising. it is good to have a model and even better to have someone here that helped build it. thanks so much.

2 years ago the CCNWP (Caye Caulker Neighborhood Watch Program) was founded. At the start is sounded very promising but i didn't hear from them for a while. The chairman knows all about it because he was one of the initiators.

There are renewed patrols going on CC with trained civilians.
Sgt. Wade has been a great help over here. In the past guys like him would be promoted out of here, and we would get someone not familiar with the special needs of a tourist caye. Wade had the experience from San Pedro and is personally very competent. He came here in the wake of a crime that roused the community to action.
They have largely gone back into the traditional Caye Caulker posture of loud voiced repose.

San Pedro is actually quite fortunate and has a number of outstanding police officers. I was sad to see Sgt Wade go as he did amazing things over here in regards to raising morale, organizing great PR with the community and even giving the station a lovely face lift.

Of course Caye Caulker is a growing village and needs good men like Wade to assist with the problems that come hand in hand with development so certainly our loss was Caye Caulker's gain.

I am pleased to see that he is appreciated over there too.

I agree. Sgt Wade a very good man. We are lucky to have him. Still we need alot of work to improve our Police department. At least we are stepping forward.

I am so sorry about what happened to that lady. The island needs to get the police officers ..mainly the TPU officers to patrol every day around that area especially after 7pm. Yes off course that description sounds like a couple of guys i wouldn't want to pin point on here but will have a word with Srgt. Wade.

We should get off the island all those laid backers that are always around the Real Mack aw and at the split behind those white girls that are foolish in off to like them. All the locals know that those guys have their own agendas ...that is to steal from them , get laid and get lost. Come on people...We all want to come to Caye Caulker to have fun, but don't forget your manners at home. At the same time don't be paranoid and think that everyone is out to steal from you. WE DO HAVE NICE PEOPLE ON CAYE CAULKER ...but we also have the common vaga bonds... They are the typical men who are out stalking you & wont leave you alone. Also we do have a couple of women who are also doing this on the island.I'm sorry if I'm being straight forward.

Peace & Love

I will also let you know that Barb and I stayed at Carolyn's just south of there in February of this year. We came home the first night to find our lights on and the front door open. There was nothing missing because of the precautions we had taken, but nonetheless this type of activity is not conducive to making happy tourists.

While we were much luckier than the woman who is the subject of this post, that area seems to be a target for such "crimes of opportunity". Patrols by civilians or officers who are aware of who should be in the area at that time, and what they are up to, will go a long way in circumventing the opportunity these criminals are looking to take advantage of.