there is a first time for everything i guess! after coming here for 17 years, we were robbed at gunpoint Thursday night!  it all happened so fast you just react w/o thinking! Three of us(2 Brasilerios and me)were waiting for a uber to pick us up and it is a busy street a car came down the bled fast and then saw us and came to a Quick stop and the passenger jumped out, cute cleancut about 20, and had a revolver and said he wanted our phones and our wallets!  My friends started to give them theirs, but i just blurted out NO! He then repeated it and I said no as i put my phone into my jeans pocket and stepped back 2 feet into the Apartment doorway and slammed the door shut! He told my one friend to go get me and he said “i don’t know him” and they left quickly! this all took less then 20 seconds!  i know everyone says your life is not worth a cell phone or your wallet but again you don’t have time to formulate a response it was just my immediate response! i wasn’t going to give in to his demands!  ... more later

13 minutes ago, Tomcal said:

there is a first time for everything i guess! after coming here for 17 years, we were robbed at gunpoint Thursday night!  it all happened so fast you just react w/o thinking! Three of us(2 Brasilerios and me)were waiting for a uber to pick us up and it is a busy street a car came down the bled fast and then saw us and came to a Quick stop and the passenger jumped out, cute cleancut about 20, and had a revolver and said he wanted our phones and our wallets!  My friends started to give them theirs, but i just blurted out NO! He then repeated it and I said no as i put my phone into my jeans pocket and stepped back 2 feet into the Apartment doorway and slammed the door shut! He told my one friend to go get me and he said “i don’t know him” and they left quickly! this all took less then 20 seconds!  i know everyone says your life is not worth a cell phone or your wallet but again you don’t have time to formulate a response it was just my immediate response! i wasn’t going to give in to his demands!  ... more later

 

I am glad you are OK!

Glad you got away safely and no one got hurt! Is this in Rio? 

What a horrific experience. Stay safe!

cute cleancut about 20

Not your typical police description.

only Tomcal. 

Agree.  So glad you're okay.  

I'm glad you are okay.  Stay safe!  Thank you for sharing with us!

Glad you're safe! Do you mind telling us where and what time of day this happened?

there is no doubt that this was a crime of “opportunity”, the car came to a sudden halt when it saw 3 guys talking on their cellphones!  one change i am making is not standing outside on the sidewalk staring at my Uber App! This was about 8:00 pm we were heading out to dinner. i’t is interesting to note that my one friend is 36 and the other is 47 and both are Cariocas and this is the first time it has ever happened to them!  they both said after “now you understand why we voted for Bolsonario!”

1 hour ago, Tomcal said:

there is no doubt that this was a crime of “opportunity”, the car came to a sudden halt when it saw 3 guys talking on their cellphones!  one change i am making is not standing outside on the sidewalk staring at my Uber App! This was about 8:00 pm we were heading out to dinner. i’t is interesting to note that my one friend is 36 and the other is 47 and both are Cariocas and this is the first time it has ever happened to them!  they both said after “now you understand why we voted for Bolsonario!”

1. Glad you’re okay and no one was hurt.

2. I understand your adrenaline kicked in, but a phone isn’t worth your life. My insurance (with a little push back) would’ve sent me a new one overnight to Brazil. He “probably” wouldn’t have shot a white turisto in the middle of Ipanema (THOSE cases, unlike the 50,000 others, tend to make international news and the book is thrown at the brasileiro offender — and he most likely knew this), but it really is better to be safe with your life than sorry and dead.

3. Don’t display your phones on the street or in public places — especially at night. Yes, you and your group had targets on their backs.

4. “Cute and 20”? He would have made more off of you with a simple programa.

5. Did you get the license plate? If so, Id go down to the Tourist Police Station and make a huge stink. Brazil is broke and (at least currently) treats American, European and Asian tourists with money like first-class citizens. The tourist police station will escalate this with evidence like a license plate number. They don’t want the bad publicity and they desperately want the money. I’ve used the “American privilege” thing to my advantage several times, and I’m a man of color. It would work for you at least tenfold being a white guy from California!

So sorry this happened to you. I am glad you are OK!

Glad to hear you're OK Tom. 

Take care tom！

9 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

 

4. “Cute and 20”? He would have made more off of you with a simple programa.

you know it!! :-)

Where did this happen?

Thanks

On 11/10/2018 at 10:03 PM, Tomcal said:

Three of us(2 Brasilerios and me)were waiting for a uber to pick us up and it is a busy street a car came down the bled fast and then saw us and came to a Quick stop and the passenger jumped out, cute cleancut about 20, and had a revolver and said he wanted our phones and our wallets!  My friends started to give them theirs, but i just blurted out NO! He then repeated it and I said no as i put my phone into my jeans pocket and stepped back 2 feet into the Apartment doorway and slammed the door shut! 

First of all, we're all glad you're safe and sound.  

The problem in these situations is what you DON'T see!

Almost always,  there is someone giving that guy cover.  It could be the driver, with a concealed weapon.  It could be another (armed) passenger lying on the floor.  It could be the car right behind theirs.   In any case that guy would immediately and violently retaliate if you tried to react in any way whatsoever,  including a refusal of his colleague's demands.  Placing a coveted object back in one's pocket and then stepping back would end up giving them ample time to respond.   

We locals here read about courageous reactions from  outraged victims all the time.  Unfortunately, it usually ends very differently. 

let me say I agree with the above comments 110%! i should have not been so dumb and just gave them what he wanted! i just didn’t have. time to think!

@Tomcal Am I the only one thinking it's lucky the robber didn't just shoot at you through the apartment door?

I'm certainly aware of that happening with robberies in Cape Town, for instance, where the robbers being frustrated just fired their weapons.

I think it is clear that @Tomcal is not advocating for his reaction as what we should do in a similar situation. He is just sharing how he reacted. We all may discuss what would be the best thing to do in such a limit situation, but we do not know what we will do until we are there. 

8 hours ago, msclelovr said:

@Tomcal Am I the only one thinking it's lucky the robber didn't just shoot at you through the apartment door?

I'm certainly aware of that happening with robberies in Cape Town, for instance, where the robbers being frustrated just fired their weapons.

it was a Solid metal door...thank god!

hehe, now when I think of Tomcal I will automatically associate him with a solid metal door. He is invincible!

15 hours ago, Tomcal said:

let me say I agree with the above comments 110%! i should have not been so dumb and just gave them what he wanted! i just didn’t have. time to think!

You're just stubborn.....did I ever mention that to you??

 

I'm also disappointed in you.....you let a cute 20 yr old get away without sex...???

Glad you are ok Tom. I am in Thailand currently and it is like night and day in terms of security. You can walk anywhere at any hour and not worry about someone assaulting you--much less with a gun. It got me thinking why Brazil is so different in this regard. They have many of the same issues here--division of wealth, weak law enforcement, and so on. I guess the difference must be their mostly Buddhist upbringing.

I'll continue to visit and love Rio as a vacation destination but I know longer think about retiring there as I once did. I can't imagine living full-time in a place where you can't pull your phone out in public for fear of getting held up--but that's what the Cariocas have to put up with.

The sophisticated thieves do not steal high-end cellphones especially ones that could have a six-digit password,  fingerprint or eye identity entry. There is no money in the sale of these stolen phones. They know which phones to take. The kids who steal phones who can be more dangerous to deal with. They take iPhones or similar open them take out the identifying components and even now that the phones do not now work they sell them as a status symbol. Like the guys who sport  3-carat diamond earrings and are working in a sauna. Everyone knows they are not real.

Please share the area you were waiting for your Uber so that it can be avoided. One thing is for sure these thieves will return to the same area again and again.

45 minutes ago, alwaysrio said:

The sophisticated thieves do not steal high-end cellphones especially ones that could have a six-digit password,  fingerprint or eye identity entry. There is no money in the sale of these stolen phones. They know which phones to take. The kids who steal phones who can be more dangerous to deal with. They take iPhones or similar open them take out the identifying components and even now that the phones do not now work they sell them as a status symbol.

I don’t believe they had any idea what type of phones we had! it was dark and there is no way he could have been able to determine has they all were in the grip of our hands! it was one Samsung and one iphone 7, mine is a 8+ but as i was just walking out of the building he would not have been able to tell what i had in my hand. also they were driving a newer model jeep!

Glad you are OK Tom. 

With what happened recently to ihpguy and to you it is difficult to consider that Rio is not more dangerous than it used to be.

It is hard to feel how dangerous it is though and I must say that I walked from Copacapana to la Cueva at 10.30 pm (1km) or from Pointe to Atantico Blvd at night ... on the other hand I never take my phone out of my pocket except to take pictures (but I only take pictures of boys in saunas ...). When I need to consult my phone to see where I am or to call a uber or to see updated message box,  I always do it inside a shop or a restaurant. I never ever take my phone out in the street no matter how many people are around. But I do carry my phone with me ...

Again : glad you are safe and sure that this will not prevent you from going back to Rio. I am back there at the end of the month of November ...