Thieves robbed a tavern and were caught celebrating in a motel

Four people were captured by the Barranquilla Police in a motel located on the Juan Mina road, after committing, minutes before, a massive robbery in a tavern in the city.

According to the authorities, the people entered the commercial establishment before midnight on Sunday, where they harassed and gagged at least 20 people who were celebrating at the scene.

“They posed as couples because four people entered at the beginning and there were three people outside. They targeted everyone, stripped them, tied them up, and left them all locked up“, reported a person who knew about the case, to the digital newspaper Zona Cero.

The official Police report also indicates that, in addition to stealing the belongings of the people who were in the place, the men, belonging to the criminal group, took the opportunity to grope the women who were present.

At 2:30 in the morning, after committing the robbery, the criminals left the place heading to a motel to celebrate the misdeed and hide from the authorities, however, The group did not count on the fact that one of the cell phones they stole had its GPS activated, so they gave away their location and were captured.

The Barranquilla Police, at the time of their capture, seized a 38 caliber revolver, eight cell phones, five wristwatches, four wallets, a speaker, two belts, glasses with their case and six bags with makeup and accessories.

Those captured were identified by the Barranquilla Metropolitan Police as Jaider Alberto Beleño Gutiérrez, 41; Edward Restrepo Lorcano, 23 years old; Inírida Estefanny Berrío Kunst and Shirley Paola Amado García, 27 years old.

At the moment the authorities are continuing with the investigation to identify the other people who may have been part of the robbery, but who were not found at the motel facilities.

Theft and homicides in Barranquilla during the first half of 2020

The Barranquilla Citizen Security Observatory, delivered last August, the latest report on crime figures during the first half of this year in the city. In it, it is revealed that the figures for homicide and theft decreased in 2020 compared to the previous year.

According to the document, there were three fewer homicides (144), compared to the first half of 2019 (147). However, the number of victims affects Venezuelans.

“There is an increase with victims of Venezuelan origin, representing 12.5 percent (18) of the registered cases. At the local level, in the first half of 2019, this figure was 4.8 percent of the cases. At the national level, for 2019, the registry represented 3.42 percent of total cases”, Reports the report, according to the newspaper El Tiempo.

Regarding the theft of people, the document explains that there was a decrease in the cases filed since March, due to confinement, however, there was an increase in the use of firearms to carry out these crimes.

“Centro, Ciudadela 20 de Julio and Barrio Abajo, with 158, 109 and 106 thefts, respectively, were the areas where the most cases of this type of crime were registered”, Indicates the document, published by the same newspaper.