Neighbors capture phone thief in Santiago de Cuba

Neighbors in Santiago de Cuba captured a thief when he was trying to snatch a phone from a girl in the middle of the city.

According to what independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta reported on his Facebook wall, the criminal was dragged down the street by several enraged people who were beating him, until they took him with his arms restrained to the nearest police station.

"Many people have applauded the lynching because they say that if they don't take justice into their own hands, these criminals will go back to doing the same thing within a few days," he pointed out.

A resident in the area revealed that the thief is from Havana and went to steal in Santiago, where he tried to hide in a house located on San Bartolomé between San Germán and San Francisco.

"He snatched from an elderly man, where the neighbors acted quickly. The criminal had been roaming the area for about three days, and in Havana, he specializes in that, in stealing, because he mentioned it," he detailed.

Apparently, the thief is married to a young woman who lives on Paseo Martí.

In recent months, several cases have been reported in Cuba where citizens apprehend wrongdoers, in a context marked by the rise of crime and inefficient police action.

This week, residents of Havana caught a thief and kept him lying on the ground for more than two hours, the time it took for the police to arrive and take him away.

According to the Facebook profile "La Tijera," the subject was caught and "ripened" by the people.

At the beginning of the month, residents of the Sevillano neighborhood in Diez de Octubre, Havana, caught a thief who had entered to steal from several houses in the neighborhood in broad daylight.

The residents decided to take matters into their own hands and hit him in the face after discovering him. Photos from a social media post showed a man around 40 years old sitting on the street, with a swollen eye and blood on his nose, surrounded by people.

In June, residents of the Arroyo Naranjo municipality in Havana captured a man whom they accused of snatching phones; they beat him and tied him to a pole.

The crime reporter Niover Licea (Nio reporting a crime) shared a video of the incident in which the young man was seen lying on the ground, with his hands tied behind him to a electricity pole and his bare feet also tied.

He appeared to be in a state of semi-consciousness, with his eyes closed and clear signs of having been beaten, with blood on his face and swollen lips and cheeks. Around him, people insulted him, calling him shameless.