Robber Begs Police for Help While Being Beaten in Chapinero, Bogotá
A man captured after stealing a watch from a foreign national on Calle 100 with Carrera 8 pleaded for police to be called whilst being struck by witnesses.
Robber Captured in Bogotá Pleads for Police in Middle of 'Mob Justice'
An attempted robbery in northern Bogotá ended with one of the assailants crying out for police intervention, according to semana.com. The paradox was recorded in a video that began circulating on social media following the incident.
"Help, call the Police," the man can be heard repeatedly saying in the recording, whilst being restrained and struck by people present at the scene.
The incident occurred on Calle 100 with Carrera Octava, in the Chapinero locality. According to the Bogotá Metropolitan Police, two men travelling on a motorcycle approached a foreign national with the intention of robbing him of a watch.
The victim resisted and, during the struggle, one of the attackers used a traumatic weapon. The foreign national sustained an injury to one of his arms, although authorities clarified that the wound was not serious.
The reaction of passers-by in the sector, together with support from uniformed officers of the Thirteenth Brigade of the National Army, made it possible to activate the emergency line 123. Both suspects were captured. Authorities recovered the stolen watch, seized the traumatic weapon, and immobilised the motorcycle used in the assault.
It was precisely before being taken into custody when the scene that attracted attention on social media occurred: one of the detainees, whilst receiving the so-called "mob justice", insisted that the Police be called to intervene.
The case comes in a context of high insecurity in the capital. Between January and June 2026, 55,137 robberies against persons were recorded in Bogotá, according to data from the District Secretariat for Security, Coexistence and Justice, provided in response to a petition for information from councillor Diana Diago.
The figures show an average of 305 victims per day and approximately 13 robberies per hour during that six-month period, which is equivalent to one case every five minutes.
Chapinero, the locality where the robbery of the foreign national occurred, recorded 4,362 robberies against persons in the first half of the year. Together with Suba, Engativá, Kennedy and Teusaquillo, that locality accounted for 42.9 per cent of cases reported throughout the city during that period.
Source: Google News CO — Bogotá