CRIME STORIES ABOUND

Delinquents on a holiday spree

12-19-2008 | FATIMA ASVAT

fasvatstar@laestrella.com.pa

From shooting vehicles to dressing up as security officers, delinquents are using all sorts of tactics to carry out their activities

Panama Star PANAMA. As the government works to update its security policy, the rise in crimes afflicting the population continue. From children to families of policemen to buses and bullet-proof vehicles? no one is left unaffected. Here are the stories.

Last Friday, the Star reported the many tactics used by delinquents to carry on their activities. Among those mentioned was throwing stones and similar objects at cars causing the driver to stop, at which moment the assailants would quickly get inside the vehicle and steal any valuables

Recently, delinquents attempted robbery to a Pedregal - Tumba bus.

When the passengers heard a loud noise coming from either a rock or a bullet hitting the car, they yelled at the driver urging him not to stop. The obliging bus driver kept going, until the passengers realized that a woman traveling with her young daughter was bleeding after a bullet slid passed a side of her head.

Wednesday morning family members and friends of Joseadis Shaybel Olivarren, 9, said their last goodbyes as they put her to rest. Joseadis, known as “Paquita”, died after receiving three bullets in her head while she was inside her house in El Chorrillo. As neighbors and friends congregated in her living room, many prayed for an end to the gang violence, which has cost the lives of at least seven children in the neighborhood.

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