For months now - we've been reporting about the car thefts in Benque Viejo - well now they're coming to Belmopan, it seems.
And the target this time was well known Belmopan Bar-B-Q grill master Brian Walker.
At 3:00 on Sunday morning, the BBQ salesman found himself in a nightmarish ordeal, one that had him jumping in his truck to chase down his girlfriend's stolen car.
It happened during curfew hours when Walker, clad only in his boxers was jolted into action by the sound of a starting car, and frantically made his way into the night, all to catch a thief.
Cherisse Halsall brings us the story from Belmopan.
It was here on Macaw Street in the wee hours of Sunday morning that Belmopan resident Brian Walker had what was most likely a gun pointed at him. He'd been acting purely on instinct trailing a thief who almost got away in his Honda CRV but it was this point that adrenaline gave way to prudence. And as Walker's would be assailant jumped a fence, he was forced to stop and think about what was more important his girlfriend's car or his life.
Brian Walker, Almost Victim of Car-Jacking
"From where I was he was about couple car lengths in front of me and he raised his hand. So I just stopped chasing and I pulled up behind a vehicle, as they say in case he bust a shot."
"When these things happen you have very little time to think about anything, there may be a few occasions where you get to stop and think, otherwise maybe it could have been worse."
Cherisse Halsall:
"When you hear that engine start up and you're not the one starting it what's the reaction?"
Brian Walker, Almost Victim of Car-Jacking
"Oh it's those kind of feelings where you know you don't feel you belly again and you know the vehicle belongs to my girlfriend and she works very hard for it. I never thought it could ever happen to me, never, never, in my wildest dreams."
And while it played out like something out of a movie, it ultimately had a happy ending, largely because of the one way labyrinthine nature of these three Belmopan central site streets, some of the oldest in the city.
Brian Walker, Almost Victim of Car-Jacking
"Up doing some work and on finishing the work I just sat back and looking at TV and I heard the vehicle started up, so I quickly check and see where my girlfriend was and you know she was asleep and I just notified her that I think the vehicle just start and its going, so, in my boxers I ran and jump into my truck to try follow it and see where it went. I basically went as far as Roaring Creek, up on the Hummingbird Highway, down on George Price Boulevard trying to figure out how far they could have gotten and on coming back home, the vehicle that was stolen drove back up the street in front of my house. So we said it's a friend playing a big prank on us or something. So we went to stop it, but it never stop. I got back into my truck and I chased it around, we went on Half Moon Caye (street) and it drove back up my street again, so I cornered the vehicle with my vehicle and I kind of pressed on the passenger's door a little bit, so it was kind of hard for me to get in, but my thing was to turn off the engine and then probably get a hold of the person and he got out through the driver's door and started running up the street and so he jumped a couple fences. I was barefooted, so I couldn't pursue any further, but he came back up the street. I figured the person was not from Belmopan. It was an unusual situation, for the mere fact that he came up the street 2 times."
But Walker says he may never have given chase and for that he thanks a malfunctioning fan belt.
Brian Walker, Victim of Car-Jacking
"It was something that was supposed to be fixed some time ago there's a little drop of oil that goes on the fan belt and whenever you start it in the mooring or once it's been sitting down a while, whenever you start it, it makes a squeaky sound and that was what I heard when I heard the vehicle stat, so chances are I'm not gonna fix it now, it's just gonna be like that."
Walker says that the hispanic car thief was very young around 14 or 15 but smelt strongly of alcohol
Cherisse Halsall:
"We just discussed with the police this morning car jackings happening in the Benque area. These men steal these cars and drive them across to Melchor, we assume to just take them down for parts. Do you think they ventured as far as Belmopan?"
Brian Walker, Almost Victim of Car-Jacking
"Well since this happened, I would probably say yes. It's not something usual here in Belmopan. I know I saw the one up in Benque with the Toyota Hilux and yeah, I sympathized with the guy now that I know how it feels. I think it's coming this way. Beside the fact of locking it up, it will be best if you have a yard to put the vehicle in your yard or just properly lock it up, because if they are going to come for it whether you have it locked up or not, they are going to come for it."
