“Thank God the grocery store hasn’t been robbed!”, Was the expression in which several grocery store managers agreed yesterday, stating that their businesses have not been reached by the hand of crime.
The merchants told Listín Diario thatAlthough they cut the hours of services in their establishments to avoid attracting the attention of the antisocial, every day they lose customers due to the wave of insecurity and violence that covers the national territory.
Against this background, they commented that until the clients who visit them to have a beer or a drink are themselves that on their own and without warning them about the closing time, they decide to “set sail” from those spaces for fear that criminals will break in and make an attempt on their lives.
“When customers come to have a beer, they themselves are the ones who collect themselves when they see that it is getting dark,” said Juan Soriano, manager of a grocery store, located in the Ensanche Luperón.
The employee commented that they have surveillance camerahowever, expressed insecurity at the idea of a setback of this magnitude occurring, so they decide to keep alert among themselves, as well as notify their regulars about the approach of criminals to their premises.
“We protect each other…People are on the defensive,” one of the assistants was heard saying in the distance.
Carlos Rodríguez, owner of a grocery store in the Villa María sector of the capital, said that recently a criminal tried to move the security camera of his business as a way to avoid being filmed.
Rodríguez explained that this has been the only criminal action that he has perceived and that since then, he has tried to keep the grocery store with people inside to avoid an assault.
Likewise, Francis Ruiz, who runs one of these establishments in Villa Consuelo, indicated that once people leave that business they proceed to close it, explaining that “staying open after 10:00 at night is allowing a robbery.” .
“People don’t come to drink like before, they have collected themselves, even those who come leave early,” Ruiz said.
despite patrolling
These merchants confirmed to daily list that police patrols are frequent in their respective neighborhoods.
However, they said that these operations are not enough for their grocery stores to trust them with security.