Robbery

[spiritd1]

Was trying to get more info on break-ins/robberies occuring on Bonaire, been going there for yrs experienced petty theft, sunglasses and fip flops stolen from the pick up truck at dive sites, the last was a burglary in the home we rented down the road south of Bachelors Beach, came home froma evening dive and there were 2 guys in front of the house fixing a bike, didnt think about it, had dinner then went to bed. One of the guys in our group awoke to noise and got up, about 230ish, her found the sliding doors open, and our diving equipment outside. as the light came up, noticed our cameras and dvd player was gone, including the chargers. THe thing about the chargers were they were out of view and on the floor beind the sofa, inside job with the cleaning crew? The police came and the home manager, they were actually nonchalant about it as if we were bothereing them. Our friends just came back in Feb 09 and they were robbed of about 10,000. worht of equipment, hrs after landing, they went into their house dropped their stuff off and went to get a bite, came back and their equipment was gone, again the same attitude from the police. Planning on returning in Sept but hmmm, proably going to stay at Sand Dollar, was there before and was safe.

 

[smokey braden]

spiritd1,
welcome to this board.
sorry to hear about your experience.
sounds like they look for tourist renting a house who are trying to save $ and not staying at a resort.
on your next holiday i wish you will not have any problems.
regards,

 

[Walter]

Robbery vs burglary - while I'm sorry you and your friends lost valuable possessions, you were not robbed and for that you should be thankful. While I'm sure it does happen from time to time, I've yet to hear of a robbery on Bonaire.

Burglary is a break in (specifically of a dwelling house) with the intent to commit a felony (usually a theft). Burglary is a crime against property. Robbery is theft using violence or the threat of violence. Robbery is a crime against people. Robbery is a much more serious crime than burglary. Luckily, robbery is rare on Bonaire.

 

[melg]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear of your bad experience. I was going through the forum and found this post relating to theft http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/abc-islands/285353-bad-ending-otherwise-good-bonaire-trip.html. I am planning a trip to Bonaire and Curacao in end July-early August and I have to say I am not happy to find such info online. I am always careful with my stuff but that does not really mean much because there is always an opportunity presented even if it is for a split second.

 

[jd950]

Sadly, I don't think I would stay in any rental houses on Bonaire, but would stick to places like Buddy Dive, Den Laman, Cap't Don's, Golden Reef Inn, etc. From what I have heard here, on Bonaire Talk and elsewhere, it seems the risk is too great (Unless it is the same couple of incidents being described repeatedly).

Walter, while I agree with your distinction between robbery and burglary, a burglary of an occupied home in the middle of the night is only a burglary until a resident wakes up and confronts the burglar, who then likely becomes a robber, or worse. Please don't be offended by my comment, but I would argue that when it comes to break-ins of occupied places, it is splitting hairs to sugest such a burglary is less serious than a robbery and robberies are rare.

I have to assume the burglars have some idea the residents might awaken, and some plan to deal with that problem. Myabe the plan is just to run away, but maybe not. I did read one report where the occupant chased the burglar who then pulled a knife.

I really need to stay away from these threads until after my trip.

 

[spiritd1]

jd950, no worries Im still going back, LOVE LOVE LOVE Bonaire, just was wondering if anyone heard anything else about robbieries. I wont split hairs between a robbery and a burglary, to me they are one in the same. Yeah I guess I didnt need the stuff to much , its the thought of being violated while sleeping. For an island that is "DIVER'S PARADISE" you would think that they would have better control of the robberies or petty theft that occurs on the island. BUt BONAIRE is fantastic, wonderful, #1 for me in all the wonderful

 

[spiritd1]

Yeah Im sorry as well, but KARMA will prevail. as for splitting hairs regarding a burglary vs robbery, robbery: the taking or attempting to take something of value from a person thru intimadation, threats or force, Burglary is the unlawful entry of a strucutre to commit a felony or theft. considered a burglary if the thieve enters thru a an unlocked door, window, a "forcible entry" when an objected is used to enter a "locked" door or window, so enlight of this " I feel i was burgalarized and a robbery occured, the only reason no one was hurt, them or us, was because we were SLEEPING. as for posting this, I find it hard that no one else has experienced this or something similiar. Friends that were vacationing 02/09 experienced a burglary as well, its happening Im sure of. On the Bonaire FOrum u cant even post anything such as this unless u email them the police report. If they keep it on the down low then everything will be merry. I have and will continue to travel to BOnaire just wont take cameras and such with me. Finally if u talked to others, ie The owners of CasaBlkanca, they experienced a similar situation and said that it is rapant on the island.

 

[spiritd1]

actually it wouldve been cheaper on a resort, just wanted peace and quite!, but will still visit because I LOVE the island

 

[DiverVince]

No matter where you are in the Caribbean, you should always do your due diligence on where you chose to stay. Obviously it's easier to burglarize some places and not others. The low hanging fruit always gets taken first.

Whenever I'm in the Caribbean (and we have traveled extensively), we always want to stay as high up as possible & will avoid being on the first floor. Additionally you'll want to investigate, security systems, cameras, gates to the property etc., if a safe is available, the size of same etc. Sometimes you need to think like a burglar to avoid becoming a statistics. Having said that, we feel that Bonaire is one of the safest islands we've ever been on.

 

[spiritd1]

if one plans and feels after they locked the doors, windows, etc before going to sleep then what happened to these persons: thread in scubaboard:
Bad Ending to Otherwise Good Bonaire Trip, seems they did everything we did. I not saying its a bad place just was wondering what was been done to decrease the PETTY theft tourists (revenue for the island) are experiencing