Thieves Steal Bag From Canadian Tourist
Yesterday evening [Oct.8] a 51-year-old Canadian tourist was riding her rental cycle in Southampton when two men rode past on a motorcycle and snatched her bag, stealing a digital camera and other items.
A police spokesperson said, “Around 6pm on Saturday, police responded to a reported handbag snatch on South Road in Southampton near the junction with Turtle Place.”
“It appears that a 51 year old female Canadian visitor was riding her rental cycle along South Road when two unknown men on a motorcycle rode by and removed a red backpack containing a Pentax digital camera and personal items.”
“The 51 year old woman was not injured. The suspects are described as two men on a motorcycle wearing dark coloured helmets, with the pillion passenger wearing a light coloured hooded top.”
“Inquiries into this incident are underway. Any witnesses or anyone with any information is encouraged to contact PC Gregory White on 295-0011.”
sorry about the senseless theft. Cycle Livery managers and staff – tell the tourists to keep their valuables under the seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT ARE WE GOWING TO DO ABOUT HAND BAG SNATCHING ITS BIN HERE FOR YEARS AND STILL GOWING ON NOT GOOD FOR BERMUDA!!!!!!
“In April of this year, Transport Minister Terry Lister spoke about the air and cruise arrivals, saying that ”Historically, Bermuda used to get as many as 650,000 tourists a year up to the 80s, and we kept the cruise passengers at 150,000, and we had 500,000 land passengers.”
“Last year we had 345,000 cruise passengers and 120,000 land passengers, it’s a huge, huge swing. We are working very hard – my ministry and tourism – on the land passenger side. We have been successful in getting AirTran here, and they are going to bring alot of seats, we are trying our best to hold on to lifts from other carriers.”
“But while all that is going on, the real bread and butter for us is the cruise ship passenger, and I need the people of Bermuda to understand that and all of us to work together on this,” said the Minister.”
Good job protecting the tourists on land and doing cabin searches on the cruise ships to harass and embarrass good potential paying customers…
And whose fault is it in the 80′s that no tourists wanted to ever come back?
BIU. That’s who.
You want to “work very hard on the land passenger side”? Dismantle the BIU so they stop ruining tourism with bus strikes during the height of summer tourist season and by standing on dining room tables yelling at the paying customers.
The bike rentals need to take those stupid baskets out and have the bikes with the lock compartments
Make them put their stuff under their seats , and not all of those rental bikes have a compartment much less one big enough for them …duuuh .
Take the baskets off of the bikes … duuuh ..
Why don’t we address the root of the problem and stop breeding all of these little lawless thugs ?
And in the rare event we actually catch them chop their hands off !
I have said it before and will say it again, the bike rentals should indeed replace those baskets. Yes, the rentals have said that if they do then they will have to worry about keys being loss and so on and so forth (excuses, excuses), but in my opinion, that is a small price to pay to ensure tourists in Bermuda have a great vacation.
Wonder if the rentals stopped to think that since tourists can’t rent cars here and bikes are the way to go, not only will it make for great feedback when the they return home, but in the same vein for EVERY tourist that got their bags snatched, they will either
1: Refuse to return to Bermuda or
2: Blog on some cruise website and tell their friends NOT to rent bikes when they come here because of these thefts.
So who loose business in the end? The same rental companies that do no want to bend a little and replace those wire baskets!!!
You don’t even need to have a lock, simply a basket with a cover that can latch shut so people cannot reach their sticky hands in and grab things. Even the baskets could have a hinged cover manufactured that would prevent things being taken off the back while the bike is moving.
When we catch these idiots the sentence should be 10 years. No parole. That might take the stupid grin off their face.
I agree with you Rick Rock, a ten year sentence with no privileges should be the only sentence for these purse snatchers. Disgraceful! This is ruining our reputation. As to gang members involved in the shootings just lock them up and throw the key away. I have nothing but the belief harsh punishment for all these criminals is the only way. Bring back the bread and water diet and hard labour and crime will stop!
Maybe Bernews can confirm this ….I hear prisoners are now being let out after 1/3 of their time….for every good day they get 2 off their time…..as in the case of the recently released “Prince”
aint 2 off dey time….u jus get out fa good behavior!
Not really the fault of the tourist or the rental companies is it? Although tourists should be made aware that Bermuda is no longer the friendly, safe place it used to be, it is still the bag snatching thugs who are to blame.
Such a shame to see.
Bermuda is just one tourist mugging with serious injuries away from a total tourism meltdown.
We can take away their buses and ferry’s due to stike and mechanical breakdown,treat them like crap,greet them at the ferry terminal with stinking drunks and homeless people and maybe, get away with it…. but as soon as someone gets murdered its game over!
The following is from the US State Department:
CRIME: Bermuda has a moderate but growing crime rate. Recent crime statistics can be viewed at the official website of the Bermuda Police Service. Examples of common crimes include theft of unattended baggage and items from rental motorbikes, purse snatching (often perpetrated by thieves riding motorbikes), mugging, and theft from unsecured hotel rooms. Valuables left in hotel rooms or left unattended in public areas are vulnerable to theft. Criminals often target visitors on rental motorbikes and at popular tourist attractions.
The back streets of the city of Hamilton are often the setting for nighttime assaults, particularly late at night after the bars close. Travelers should exercise caution when walking after dark or visiting out-of-the-way places on the island as they can be vulnerable to theft and assault, and because narrow and dark roadways can contribute to accidents. In the past, there have been reports of sexual assault and acquaintance rape and occasional use of “date rape” drugs.
Travelers should note an increase in gang presence and illegal drug activity in Bermuda. There have been no reports of gang violence targeted towards visitors to Bermuda, although gunfire between gang members has occurred throughout the island
Didn’t we just spend taxpayers’ money on a campaign to woo more Canadian tourists to spend their vacation dollars here? Way to go, Bermuda!!!
Was the “red backpack” on her back or in the basket everyone’s referring to? The rental companies need to remind people to look after their belongings as if they were in their own countries, that’s about all they can do. (by the way, how do we even know there was such a backpack….gov will give her something to hush her up)
As an employee of a livery firm I can assure you that every customer myself and my colleagues instruct are reminded of the risk of theft from open baskets. We encourage customers to lock smaller, more valuable belongings such as wallets/passports/digital cameras/phones underneath the seat. Everything else (towels, snorkel gear) that doesn’t fit we instruct them to fasten the supplied bungee cord through the shoulder strap of a backpack or through the handle of a purse. If the thieves managed to undo the bungee or cut it with a knife while the cycle was in motion I would be very surprised. I assume the bag was completely unsecured. I do feel sorry for the tourist however and hope that this incident doesn’t blemish the reputation of the majority of outstanding people that we have in Bermuda.
This is so typical of Bermuda. The problem of our tourists having their valuable stolen from their bikes has been going on for years and still NOTHING gets done about it. Neither are the sentences for this crime increased nor does any livery company step up and implement the type of basket with lock that would prevent this from happening. NOTHING FROM NOTHING LEAVES NOTHING.
Increasing crime rate is the reason I have not been to Bermuda in 10 years. Had made 22 previous visits. Island is beautiful but you don’t seem to have much success in dealing with your local thugs.