Shocking footage shows the moment a British tourist is cornered and brutally attacked by a gang of women to steal his belongings as he walks down a busy street in the heart of Colombia’s drug capital.
The dramatic robbery was caught on CCTV on Friday, at a time when the number of tourists reporting robberies is increasing in Medellín.
Two of the women, initially looking unassuming in miniskirts and crop tops, can be seen identifying their target, who is unaware of the danger ahead, as they walk by.
They begin to follow their victim as he makes his way down the bustling street, one corner approaching Berrio Park, before confronting him, much to the man’s surprise.
The two assailants then launch a frenzied attack on the Brit, before another woman joins in, hitting him over the head and pulling at his backpack endlessly.
Two of the women begin to follow their victim as she makes her way down the bustling street.
Surveillance footage from Friday shows the women approaching the man and talking to him.
The women confront the man, to his surprise, and appear to exchange a few words.
The man tries to walk away, but the two women follow close behind, continuing to grab his bag. He tries to push them away and a fight ensues.
The man desperately tries to fight the women, but the group successfully stole his ‘high-end’ mobile phone, reports El Tiempo.
Surveillance footage shows the women approaching the man and speaking to him for a few seconds, with one clutching his backpack.
He tries to walk away, but the two women follow close behind, continuing to grab his bag. He tries to push them away and a fight ensues.
The attack seems to continue for at least a minute, and he sees the group cross the street as they fight over the tourists’ belongings.
Stunned onlookers watch and seem to make no effort to intervene as the man faces an attack from all angles.
The women grab the man by his backpack as he quickly tries to back away, dragging them with him.
He then nearly spins the women around as they cling to his pack, trying to throw them off in self-defense.
The tourist nearly spins the women around as they cling to his backpack, trying to throw them off in self-defense.
The violent attack seems to continue for at least a minute, and the group mills across the street as they fight over the tourists’ belongings.
Video shared by police showed them piling the female suspects into a police car.
Police were quickly called to the scene and were able to arrest the women, with police releasing more videos showing the three suspects piled into a car.
In a roughly translated statement, Major Adrián Chacón, Inspection Officer of the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Police, said that the police conducted a thorough investigation after the incident.
“A meticulous follow-up began through the city’s security cameras, where in the same sector the cameramen identified the three women, notifying the police units of the quadrant, where they were intercepted, captured for the crime of theft” .
They said the stolen items were returned abroad.
It comes about 48 hours after two other foreign travelers caught video of their assault, which took place in broad daylight.
The victims, who are said to be a Polish couple, were recorded while they walked one of the guardian hills of the capital of Antioquia, before the violent attack cut the video.
The man and woman, whose names have not been released, were walking on Cerro El Volador, a hill in Medellín, on Wednesday when a man approached them from behind with a sharp object.
The man was speaking to the camera in his native language while recording them, which is when one of the suspects can be seen running towards them from behind.
A suspect placed his hand around the woman’s mouth and his accomplice choked the man as the phone fell to the ground and the video recording stopped.
Later, the man posted a second video showing him covered in blood.
So far there have been no arrests, despite calls from the mayor of Medellín.
The first quarter of 2023 registered 230 complaints of robbery against tourists in Medellín, the capital of Antioquia, the Tourism Observatory of the Personería de Medellín.
This is equivalent to an increase of 666 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reports El Tiempo.
Last month, a British tourist died after being attacked by assailants while walking on a mountain trail in Colombia.
It is believed that he was struck over the head with the butt of a gun by assailants who stole his belongings after he climbed the Cerro de las Tres Cruces in Medellín.
The victim, named locally as Kyle MacKenzie, was found badly injured at the bottom of the mountain trail where the assailants abandoned him after being attacked.
He was discovered two days after he went missing and was rushed to hospital in critical condition before succumbing to his multiple injuries, which included head injuries.
The victim has been described locally as a Swedish-born man who held a British passport.
The victim of the assault has been described as the first foreign person killed in Medellín so far this year, following 10 murders of foreigners last year in Medellín.
The city is no stranger to violent crime, and was once dubbed the murder capital of the world, as violence plagued the streets during the reign of the Medellin drug cartel.
Ruled by arguably the most notorious drug lord in history, Pablo Escobar, Medellín witnessed 6,349 murders in 1991, a murder rate of 380 per 100,000 inhabitants.
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