A part-time resident from the United States came close to becoming the victim of a mugging on her first day back in Puerto Escondido.
The woman wrote in a post this week to a Puerto Escondido Facebook page that she was just starting her third half-year season in Puerto, noting that she has always felt safe day and night, walking freely on well lit main streets by herself.
After spending Sunday evening in Carrizalillo and Rinconada, she left the area around 8:30 p.m., walking toward Colonia Hidalgo along Av. Hidalgo, a “straight, fairly empty but lit stretch of road.”
She was listening to music on her headphones and texting, conceding that in doing so she “wasn’t fully paying attention, as I have done this easy, well lit walk a million times.”
“Just after I crossed the street to where you turn to go to Puerto Angelito . . . I heard a motorbike coming really close,” her post continued. “Two guys on one bike pulled right in front of me and two guys on another bike pulled right behind me, and they started to get off their bikes.”
The part-time resident’s “gut instinct” kicked in, and she managed to “run as fast as I could in between the two bikes.”
At that moment a woman drove by, witnessing the near mugging and the woman’s dash for safety. She stopped to ask if the victim was all right and offered to drive her to her destination two minutes down the road.
“I am nearly certain I was about to be robbed had I not run and there hadn’t been a passing car. There was no reason . . . for four men to stop abruptly and park, especially surrounding a solo woman,” she wrote.
The harrowing experience left her feeling shaken up but otherwise OK.
She concluded with words of advice: “I want to remind everyone to pay attention and be vigilant when walking alone, especially at night. It’s easy to get complacent in a town that has always felt safe, but the world, not just Puerto, is changing, sadly. I would suggest to not wear headphones or be texting, walk on well lit roads, find a buddy to walk with if possible, and above all, trust your gut! If it feels off, it probably is.”
Foreigners and locals commiserated with the author of the post, offering their support and sharing her puzzlement at the attempted mugging, agreeing that the time and place have felt safe at countless other times.
Some responses thanked her for the heads up, while others said that while unfortunate, they will avoid walking by themselves in future. One person wondered if the incident was an attempted kidnapping, while another went as far as proposing that it could have escalated even further, suggesting “don’t go anywhere alone without something,” implying the use of some kind of weapon in self defense.
El Sol de Puerto
