Robbery in CUMBUCO

Boosty · Joined: 24 May 2001 Posts: 9

One night in Cumbuco

I sure could have used a Shotgun Willy or two That first night in Brazil. As I sat in room #1 at www.cumbucoguesthouse.com , writing emails about how sleepy it is here. Suddenly, the care taker "Jonny" came running through my room and into the bathroom screaming. He was being chased by two armed men wearing masks who came in behind him. One, with a BIG pistol followed Jonny and tried to get through the bathroom door where Jonny was whaling for god to save him. I was left to confront the guy with the knife who was standing between me and the door and ordering me to lay down in Portuguese. I said no endendo several times and as he stabbed at me with the knife. Then I started to comply and I saw he wanted to tie me up face down on the floor which terrified me so I sprung up and grabbed a wooden chair and Smashed him with it to get him away from the door and then I bolted for the wall hoping desperately that I could work the tricky latch quickly enough to get out before being shot or stabbed. Just as I got the latch open and leaped through the door the knife hit me on the back and luckily left only a small cut. I sprinted down the cobblestone street barefoot at full speed four 400 meters hoping no-one was following or shooting at me and worried about the 10 others at the posada. I ran until I saw some kids on the street and screamed onde a policia! They ran with me to the police who responded 20 min later with a large force. As it turned out the Bandits had fled after they realized that I had gotten away, taking only what they could quickly grab and run with. Nobody saw them leave because they were all hiding terrified or tied up already. Including the German owner and his wife and many other young foreigners. I was all the while up the street freaking out and watching the drama unfold with the rest of the village who had turned out to watch. I seems that no shots were fired but I remember hearing a story about a guy from Hood River who was killed last year in a similar invasion style robbery. Scary shit and hard to know what to do in this rapidly unfolding scenario. After the police responded and stole a few items themselves from rooms where the thieves never went, We blazed all the lights and stayed up all night on watch and packing my car up with with all my stuff to leave at dawn.Remarkably, they took nothing of mine. The next morning the others thanked me for saving them by fighting back and they imagined that things might have been MUCH MUCH worse if the bandits had succeeded in the plan to subdue everyone and methodically raid the place room by room. I was actually thinking that my fighting back was a cowardly act of self preservation by a person who was so scared for his life that he didn't know what to do but run like hell. I guess it pays to come from a warrior culture of action heroes sometimes. But honestly, now I am freaked out and having constant flash backs of the whole crazy scene and analyzing what happened moment by moment realizing how lucky each thing was that led to my escape and that I could have just as easily been killed in trying. And that always leaves me shuddering in terror and full of adrenaline. Hopefully this traumatic effect will wear off soon with enough glassy bottom turns to Cracks off foamy lip. I can only hope that I will never again have to experience that sort of terror at the end of a gun held by a crazed lunatic who will kill without a thought or remorse. This was how it went one night in Cumbuco. Always stay with Shotgun Willy!

pacspeed · Joined: 14 Sep 2000 Posts: 627

Holy sh*t man! Glad you got away, way to go fighting back.

See my last post in the "Scary times in Baja" thread. Seems this stuff is becoming all too common. Not many places left in this world where a man can just relax and let his guard down. Damn shame too.

Oh BTW, whats a shotgun willy?

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

I've got to ask the obvious question: Are these stories in the same vein as Wind Mountain Pete's "Narrows Sasquatch" tales [ Wink

], or is this commando stuff about Baja and Brazil fer real?

\m/

WMP · Joined: 30 May 2000 Posts: 671

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

WMP · Joined: 30 May 2000 Posts: 671

Well hey, just don't get me started with all my (violent) Big Foot stories Shocked

.... you'll never wanna sail in the Gorge again!!

windspike · Joined: 15 Apr 2000 Posts: 16

Sounds like a hair raising story. I was in Fortaleza when I bumped into an older german expat who ran the windsurfing club there - Manfred. He took us to the ground where he was building a hotel for windsurfers and such. This was back in 2000. there wasn't much there, but the winds were good and I got out on the water on the beach just down the drive way from the location. Fun...and Cumbuco had some lagoons that had great flat water sailing. Not to mention that Jerricoacoara is about 6 or 7 hours up the beach by 4X4...I loved it.

shout out to Manfred
windspike out.