"Two thieves sitting on the sofa": report a robbery in the early morning at a house in Cárdenas

A couple from Cárdenas, Matanzas, woke up in the early hours of Wednesday after hearing a strange noise and found two unknown individuals sitting on their own living room sofa, according to a report published on Facebook by independent communicator Christian Arbolaez.

The owner, identified as Abel, got up to investigate after being alerted by his wife and found the two individuals in the living room of their home, located on San José Street, between Obispo and Industria. The intruders had forced their way in by ripping off several slats from the door.

At the moment they were discovered, the two men attacked the homeowner. According to Arbolaez's account, "they lunged at the owner, struck him, and knocked him to the ground," leaving him with visible injuries on his face and neck.

After assaulting the owner, the intruders escaped through the same hole in the door they had opened to enter. They took a sofa cushion and other unspecified belongings, leaving behind a backpack and a flashlight. Several neighbors gave chase to the suspected thieves upon learning of the incident, but they managed to disappear without being caught.

The police response increased the family's distress. Abel went to report the incident at seven in the morning, but Arbolaez stated that, at the time of filing his report, the agents "had still not arrived at the residence". The door remained damaged and the family was still waiting.

Several Cubans shared similar experiences; one commenter recounted that they also entered their home with their son inside, breaking slats from a metal window. Others expressed their hopelessness: "You can't even sleep peacefully in Cuba," one wrote. Another noted that "if the police do show up, it is very likely they won't take fingerprints or gather any other evidence."

In August, thieves broke into a house on Cristina Street in Cárdenas at 3:00 a.m. while a family was sleeping, and the police did not arrive until after 11:30 a.m. In October, three young men broke into another house on Laborde Street in the early morning while a woman and her elderly mother were asleep.

According to data from the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory, Matanzas recorded 155 robberies in the first half of 2026, the highest provincial figure in the country and equivalent to 26.2% of the national total of 592 verified robberies during that period.