An electric bicycle and an electric motorcycle were stolen from a private parking lot in the city of Camagüey, in a case that involved the on-duty manager, who was arrested and later released after paying the value of one of the vehicles. This incident has reignited concerns among citizens about safety in the city’s parking areas.
The incident occurred between 8:30 PM and 10:00 PM, in the parking lot El Sereno located on República Street, between Callejón de Castellano and General Gómez, according to witnesses who reported the case to the independent media La Hora de Cuba.
The on-duty manager, identified as Omar Ruiz, was arrested by the police in connection with the theft of the electric motorcycle. One of the victims came to retrieve her vehicle and it was the business owner himself who informed her of the arrest; it was then that she realized her bicycle had also gone missing. The second victim filed her report at the first police station on Avellaneda Street, the source indicated.
He also explained that Ruiz paid the value of the bicycle and was released. The owner of the electric motorcycle, on the other hand, had not received any compensation or information from the police regarding the progress of the investigation.
The public reaction on social media was immediate and revealed that the issue goes far beyond this incident. Numerous residents pointed out that El Sereno has a criminal history spanning more than two decades.
"That parking lot has a history; they take out vehicles and bicycles with fake tags," wrote a user. Another commenter described the method: "Before, they would switch your tags, and when you complained, the tag you had didn't belong to that parking lot, but it was the tag they gave you."
A practice that several citizens pointed out as a clear sign of alleged complicity is that the parking attendants prohibit users from putting locks or activating alarms on their vehicles.
"I had to leave arguing with the guard and take my bike somewhere else because he didn't allow me to set the alarm. That's total complicity," recounted a woman in the comments.
The indignation also targeted the institutional response. "They don't catch thieves simply because they are not interested in private property unless it belongs to a high-ranking official or institution," wrote a citizen.
A citizen reported in the comments that his moped was stolen from the parking lot of the provincial hospital.
Another one questioned the speed at which the detained person regained their freedom: "Is he already free for committing a robbery? If it were for banging a pot and shouting slogans, he would be in jail."
"Citizen insecurity rules in Camagüey. What a horror," summarized a neighbor, in a phrase that encapsulates the sentiment of a city where the spaces that should offer greater protection have become one of the weakest links in the chain.
The case is not isolated. Around the same time, a thief was caught on video trying to steal a cellphone during a blackout in Camagüey.
A few days ago, the police organized a public event to return a stolen Bucatti motorcycle that was taken in a knife assault near the Plaza de la Revolución in Agramonte.
The increase in electric vehicle thefts is partly due to their high value in the informal market. An electric bicycle can exceed 1,700 dollars and an electric motorcycle can go over 2,000 dollars.
Nationally, the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Auditing documented 2,833 verified crimes in Cuba during 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024, with thefts topping the list at 1,536 recorded cases.
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