| Restaurant is only a short distance from the beach where the attacks took place. | 
A.M. Costa Rica/Garett Slone
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of the A.M. Costa Rica staff The two women who were attacked on Playa Manuel Antonio during the beginning hours of Dec. 22 suffered severe blows to their faces and bodies. One of the women was badly bitten and almost drowned. Christina Mari Avolio, 24, and Catalina Segura Sossa, 29, friends from the state of Washington, were vacationing at the Hotel Arboleda in Manuel Antonio during the Christmas holiday season. After a Saturday night at Mar y Sombra restaurant the women were jumped upon as they walked on the beach only 50 yards from the popular bar, which was beginning to wind down for its 2 a.m. close. The police report said Ms. Avolio and Ms. Segura were walking to find a place to use the bathroom when a gang of youths grabbed them and struck them with their fists. The women’s clothes were torn off at the beginning of the assault. Ms. Segura suffered the worst of the attack when she was almost drowned in the surf and bitten on her chest. According to the police report, Ms. Avolio struggled against her attackers and scared the mauling group off with loud, alerting screams. The women were not raped, but in the case of Ms. Segura, some of the teenagers forcefully fondled her, the report said. Frederico Ramirez Muñoz, owner of Mar y Sombra, was tending to his night’s receipts when the beaten women stumbled almost naked to his bar and restaurant carrying their ripped clothes. His daughter who is the same age as Ms. Avolio ran to the aid of the women and provided them with clothes from her home while they waited for police and medical attention. Muñoz calls this attack the worst he has seen in 34 years of owning the restaurant. He said he has seen fights and petty thefts but nothing so vicious as this attack. He lamented that while this could mean trouble for tourism the most troubling aspect is the state of the youth of nearby Quepos. "What kind of citizens will they become," he said about those who assault people for kicks. Muñoz said the attackers are known as the "Teletubies." The name of the gang is taken from a popular children’s television program. The gang members dress in different colored shirts reminiscent of the colors that characters in the television show wear. The gang is not a secret organization on the streets of Quepos, which is only a short ride from Manuel Antonio. Most everyone knows them from police to taxi drivers to business leaders to residents. They have been terrorizing the streets for years, and usually target tourists or foreign residents. Melinda Nelms, 26, from Colorado and currently employed at a hotel in Quepos, said she has been targeted a couple of times by members of the group. One time they surrounded her while she walked home at night and lifted her skirt. This incident and one where she said members tried to snatch her purse were not reported to police. Denis Chinchilla Araya, nicknamed Neñe, is the commonly known leader of the gang. A 21-year-old taxi driver, whose brother was in the same year at school with Chinchilla, said the man inspires fear in most people in the community. He said Chinchilla, an adult, is known for fighting, and he has been seen headbutting trees in anger lending to his psychotic image. |
The taxi driver, who did not want
to be named because he fears the gang’s reprisal, said the youths are known
to surf by day and raise hell at night.
Chinchilla is named on the front page of the police reports as a suspect in the attacks. He and seven other youths between the ages of 15 and 18 were questioned and released by police while the investigation into charges of violation, attempted violation and robbery are investigated. Violation and attempted violation are separate charges, the former indicating definite sexual assault and the latter an attempt at sexual assault, but they carry the same 12 to 18-year jail sentence. Violation in the Costa Rican justice system covers a broad array of sexual attacks and not just rape. Robbery can carry a possible four-year sentence, according to an official at the Judicial Investigating Organization. The official said he is optimistic that justice will be carried out in this case, and his office is very troubled by the incident. He described the wounds the women suffered as horrifying bites and bruises that swelled on their faces and around their eyes. He said he was personally affected by the crime, and wanted the publicity to help ensure it would never happen again. The official said one of the gang members was cooperating with officials by serving as a witness in the case, but the official also said the gang is known to threaten people who go against them. He hopes this witness is not deterred from helping. The official said if the witness is not scared, then a conviction is likely. The official also said the fact the two women have left the country does not pose a problem for the investigation because the women already signed a deposition in front of a judge and identified attackers in a lineup. Also, the fact that some of the perpetrators are minors does not mean they can not receive harsh penalties if convicted, the official said. The attack poses a serious affront to the tourism industry that would rather Quepos and Manuel Antonio be seen as destinations of nature and serenity, not havens for predators of tourists. Russ Jensen, president of the Cámara de Comercio, Industria y Turismo de Aguirre, is heading efforts to raise awareness of the growing troubles with the youth in Quepos. On top of a stronger police presence he said he would like to work more with civic organizations and families to bring children positive activities and outlets like sports clubs. Jensen said the tourist sector of Quepos and Manuel Antonio has been requesting assistance for years and he hopes this attack will move the community to finally act.
from technical woes Today’s edition of A.M. Costa Rica has fewer news stories because of technical problems with the Internet. In addition, the inside pages have not been updated. We hope
to have the situation remedy by later this morning.
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