Whaddya Gonna Do?

A 48-year-old American living in TJ for 12 years was viciously mugged Monday, September 21, while riding his bicycle to the San Ysidro border crossing in the early-morning hours. As he sped along the pedestrian bridge, the two muggers grabbed his backpack and steer-wrestled him to the ground while delivering lacerating punches to his chest and face, literally ripping his pants apart to get to his wallet and absconding with his backpack as well.

The attack took place along the popular tourist path to Tijuana's Revolución Boulevard. The bridge tends to attract vagrants looking for shelter. The American has ridden along this route to work in Harborside for ten years with no previous problem or threats of attack. Police used to be stationed along the bridge during the morning hours, when many tijuanenses crossed over to work in San Diego.

Tijuana merchants who cater to the tourist trade complained that recently released convicts from California have been deported to Mexico via Tijuana and they are hanging around the tourist areas and byways these past few days. As published in Frontera, on Tuesday, Julián Palombo Saucedo, president of Asociación de Comerciantes Turisticos de Tijuana, said that authorities are doing nothing about this volatile agglomeration and "in fact, there has been an increase in crimes in the area, including robberies of businesses, during the day and the night."

The mugged American, when interviewed, said he lost about two bucks, but all his identification, driver's license, passport card, and work I.D. were stolen and his chest, face, and arms bore the bloody cuts of the assailants' punches. When asked about reporting the crime to the police, the big Midwesterner merely felt his bruised jaw, winced, and shrugged his shoulders. "Whaddya gonna do?" he said. "It's TJ..."