Delinquents on a holiday spree

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.

The 17-year-old son of a policeman working in the border region with Colombia shared the same fate, dying after receiving eight bullets near his house in San Miguelito.

Even armored delivery trucks and ATM machines have been targeted, as news of thefts abound. $130,000 was stolen out of a Banco General ATM inside the Rey supermarket in Vista Alegre on Wednesday morning. A man dressed as a security agent of the company in charge of depositing cash into the machine entered the supermarket and, pretending to be restocking, stole all of the cash and left by car.

Three asrmored delivery trucks, have been attacked recently, including Tuesday night when a gray Gresinsa truck was subject to an armed attack in San Miguelito. Jose Ayu Prado, Director of the Judicial Investigation Directive (DIJ in Spanish) believes the crimes could be due to the relaxing of security protocol.