ARMED CARJACKING IN ROSARITO

Date: Friday, 22 January 2010


From: Herman Stiphout

Hi,

"Many of you have already heard what happened to me during lunchtime today.

For those not yet in the know, herewith a short recap:

Marijke and I went into town for our Spanish lesson, which is held at Las Mañanitas restaurant at 12:00 Noon. I drove into the parking lot and let Marijke get out so that she did not have to walk through the mud.

As I locked the car, two guys in an old Toyota drove up and blocked my way. One got out and started shouting at me that he wanted my keys.

I did not immediately get what he meant but that changed in a flash when he pulled out a gun and pushed it into my stomach.  I handed over my keys, and then he shouted that he wanted my wallet.  He got more and more agitated, especially when I told him that I do not carry a wallet.

I told him to search me if he did not believe me, which he did, and emptied my pockets.

He then got into our car and both drove off at high speed.

The whole thing was over in less that a minute, at least that is the feeling that I had.

There were some people at the other side of the street who witnessed what happened, but they just stood and watched.

Apart from the car and what was in it, they got away with about 1,500.00 Pesos and $25 US, as well as my driver's license.

The restaurant people were very good in calling the police, who arrived in about 10 minutes. They were very friendly and efficient; they took us to the police station for a statement, then drove us home to get some papers. Subsequently we went to the DA's office to make another statement and then they drove us home again, after explaining in detail what the next steps were. Both spoke English fluently, so communication was not a problem.

I do not have everyone's e-mail address, so please feel free to forward to other friends on our behalf; I am not really in a state of mind at the moment to try and find everyone's address.

I also want to thank everybody who has already offered help with transport and other things.  I think that we will probably need some of that in the next few days and will contact you then.

Also, a big thank you for the calls of support that we have had; this is appreciated very much and shows the spirit of the community.

Regards,

Herman & Marijke"


(The Toyota was a dark grey, old model sedan)

Pat