Lloyd2012

Well I arrived back to CE last night and headed down to Laguna sq for coffee and toast sat morning. Two 18 ish guys appeared at my side trying to pretend to sell activity water park stuff, I twigged straight away and told the pair to get lost, looked down and no iPhone ! Guys gone and steam coming from my ears. So a chase begun and thankfully the fitness/gym work paid off. Caught one and after a bit of a tussle the phone was produced. So if you witnessed a tourist wrestling someone in a head lock well that was me.
The commotion attracted much of an audience but the local shop keepers congratulated me after I was persuaded to release the thief. I had requested the police but it was explained to me by a lovely spainish women that this type of petty theft has become to common.
So beware of what you leave on the table when your enjoying a coffee and the surroundings of the town.

Jon-Bxl

Good-on-ya!!

Good advice, thanks. Glad it hasnt spoiled your visit, in fact made the first few days of it more memorable!

Enjoy the bus into town. But keep it (the phone) in your pocket!


Jon

Ps how much do you charge for bodyguard work? I may need it after some of my posts

MikeCol

Don't worry Jon no one takes you seriously

Lloyd2012

Jon
I'm still waiting to see if the tousle on the street made it onto U-tube !

It would have to be something a dam sight worse to ruin my stay here, this is my second home and I love the place and people here. Even your posts Jon. Just glad my partner wasn't here otherwise she would have throttled the guys. Her east European blood would have boiled over at the sight of these guys activities.

Mind you, I still got the bill for the cold coffee on my return to the cafe afterward - nothing's for free nowadays.

Jon-Bxl

Phew!!!

JT01

Glad to hear you retrieved your phone after giving chase, well done you! That's something I think we would all like to think we would do in the same circumstances. Do you mind if I ask why you didn't involve the police though?

Lloyd2012

jT
As previously mentioned , I had asked locals to call the police as I had one of the culprits restrained but as it was market day I was advised that the police would not answer the call for petty theft. Come to think of it I haven't seen to many on patrol through the town. I was hoping that someone would have the foresight to take a picture of the two do atleast I could then follow it up with the local police but that didn't happen. I suppose my focus was retrieval of my stuff and not what to do after.

Regards
Martin

bxpuser24710519

I was in town on Saturday morning and saw two police men obviously watching something in La Plaza de la Laguna. I also have seen them on many of the streets in Ayamonte since I came back in June.

Lloyd2012

I'm glad to hear that they are about. This type of thing is common in every town and city I suppose.

Jon-Bxl

Hi Martin

I understand, you got your wallet back, had an adventure and werent hurt in any way. Having to hang around, go through the whole process of waiting whilst hanging onto the thief, waiting for the cops, waiting at the station, making a statement, waiting, for a result and also giving up your info and waiting for a response, would have ruined your day.

Yes the idiot got away with it, but you continued on having a good holiday.

Discretion/valour..... And no waiting!
Jon

EsuriJohn

We have 3 police forces in Ayamonte, the National Police who have an office down near the courts but are most user unfriendly in our experience, the Guarda Civil who are the biggest and most professional group deal with traffic, Campo crime, smuggling, drugs and a host of specialist areas such as anti-terrorism.

The force for you would have been the Local Police who's force size was increased when the town became more than 22,000 recently I think to 22. They answer to the Mayor and are regionally trained in Sevilla. How responsive they would have been who knows since reported robberies in CE take an age to turn out to but a song night at the shop has a visit by four officers at 22.15 to count tables and cast a beady eye over the customers.

If SPAIN WAS REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT SAVING PUBLIC FUNDS mergers and elimination of duplication, distancing the forces from politicians and bulk buying for stores would save a fortune nationwide!

Lloyd2012

I had a drink in the Passage last night (tue) and I was talking to the owner, he told me that a customer of his was close to having his personal belongings taken by two guys. The customer twigged what was happening and the left empty handed. It would seem that these thieves just have their patch , god help them if we cross paths again.

FromHuelva

I congratulate you for catching the thieves red-handed, and recovering your belongins. Just for the records: If you happen to be a victim of robbery, forgery,etc... I suggest you going to the Guardia Civil to report it, and once there, ask for the book of criminal records,("Libro de reseñas fotográficas").It is a book that contains pictures of criminals who have been catched on previous criminal actions . By doing so, you could recognize the offender , and help the police force to put him under arrest.Notice that most of these pickpockets or thieves are usually well known by policemen, and the physical description of the offender might be hard to explain because of the language, but a picture worths a thousand words

Lloyd2012

I appreciate you advice and information.
Regards
Martin.

Jon-Bxl

Hi Martin

Is this woman your wife or one of your students?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...28&postcount=1

Hoping your holiday is going well

Jon