A young Cuban was captured in broad daylight while allegedly committing a robbery in a location identified as La Caridad, in an incident that sparked a heated debate on social media regarding citizen safety on the island.
The clip, published by Léster Keyner Rodríguez Hernández, was recorded from inside an urban transport vehicle and shows a narrow street with colonial architecture, where the suspect attempted to steal a bicycle.
"Right now in La Caridad, they caught a thief stealing in broad daylight," wrote the author when publishing the one-minute and six-second video, which garnered over 57,000 views and nearly 1,545 reactions.
The incident, which does not specify in which province it occurred, adds to a series of similar cases reported in various Cuban provinces throughout 2026, where it is the citizens themselves who apprehend the alleged thieves due to the slow or nonexistent police response.
In August, neighbors in Camagüey captured a thief in the backyard of a house because the authorities did not arrive on time, while in the same week, residents of Villa Clara tied up an alleged thief and shared evidence of the robbery on social media.
In August as well, residents of Manzanillo caught another suspect and publicly denounced the lack of response from the police.
This pattern of citizen justice has been repeated for months: in July, neighbors in Cárdenas caught and tied up an alleged thief, and in April, residents of Havana detained another one on a tricycle until the authorities arrived.
The increase in crime in Cuba is supported by figures. According to the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory (OCAC), in 2025 there were 2,833 verified crimes, which is 115% more than in 2024 and 337% more than in 2023.
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