The Public Security Institute of Rio de Janeiro (ISP) recorded 12,768 robbed cars in the state capital in the first eleven months of 2022. The number represents an increase of 13%, compared to the same period of 2021, when 11,213 vehicles robbed were recorded. The number of cars stolen in Rio also had a considerable increase in the comparison between 2021 and 2022. In all, 6,884 cars were stolen between January and November last year. Compared to 2021, the increase in theft reached 17%. Official state data indicate that at least two cars are robbed or stolen in the city every hour.
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Our Analysis:
While the number of thefts and robberies targeting cars increased last year, the total number of vehicles recovered by the Civil Police fell by around 5%. Often, the victims even manage to locate the stolen car using the GPS system, but investigations are not carried forward. The growth of car robberies and thefts causes another serious problem: the increase in insurance prices. According to the Executive Director of SindSeg RJ/ES, theft is a crime facilitated by carelessness in guarding the vehicle and its destination is different from robberies. The occasional migration between the two crimes may be based on the economic crisis, lack of combating vehicle dismantling (for the illegal sale of parts), with the counterpart of strengthening public security actions against robberies. There is a direct and consequent relationship between the behaviour of vehicle theft and robberies rates, relevant components in setting the price of insurance.
07/01/2022 – A 31-year-old trans woman was killed and her body dismembered in Vigário Geral, North Zone. She worked as a call girl and was last seen taking an app transport car in front of her home in Duque de Caxias. According to relatives, she had gone to serve a customer and did not make further contact. Relatives of the victim were able to discover the address of the service and went to the location, in Vigário Geral, where they found the victim dismembered and the suspect at the scene, who ended up fleeing. A saw, a machete, a shovel, and wheelbarrow were also found at the scene, which would have been used in the murder.
07/01/2023 – A 33-year-old woman died in Bangu, West Zone, after reacting to a robbery and being shot in the head. According to witnesses, she was shot in the head by two men who were on a motorcycle and were carrying out robberies on Avenida Doutora Maria Estrela.
07/01/2022 – A 74-year-old woman was stabbed to death in Comunidade dos Prazeres, in Santa Teresa, downtown Rio. A man – who had received shelter at the victim’s house – was arrested. According to the Military Police, officers from the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) received information that a woman had been killed. Witnesses said they heard a fight between the victim and the criminal.
08/01/2023 – An 18-year-old delivery man was shot dead in Bento Ribeiro, North Zone. According to the family, the reason would be the rivalry between groups of “Bate-Bola” (a type of costume often used at Carnival). The young man was working when he was shot in the chest on Rua Andalucia. According to the victim’s brother, he was leaving the cafeteria with a friend to make a delivery when about ten motorcyclists surrounded and shot him.
09/01/2023 – A group of elderly people robbed a pharmacy on Rua Barão do Bom Retiro, in the Engenho Novo neighborhood, North Zone. According to the pharmacy manager, the trio broke the locks to get in, took all the medicines and put them in a car that was parked outside the pharmacy. Security camera footage shows the men walking through the establishment with the help of a flashlight.
09/01/2023 – A dentist had the wheels of her car stolen by criminals in Vila da Penha, North Zone. She said that she woke up with a call from her father saying that the neighbors warned him that her car had no wheels. The bandits removed the wheels and left the hydraulic jack they used to lift the vehicle.
10/01/2023 – A military police office reacted to a robbery on Rua Laura de Araújo, downtown Rio, and wounded a criminal in the face. The criminal would have knocked on the car window using a pistol replica to try to rob the PM while he was parking his car. The officer reacted, shooting from inside his own vehicle. The assailant’s companion, who was waiting in a car, managed to escape.
10/01/2023 – Police officers arrested two criminals who tried to apply the so-called “ghost hand scam” to a pensioner. In this type of scheme, scammers convince the victim to install an application on the cell phone and take control of the device, obtaining personal data that can be used to take out loans and make transfers. According to the police, a member of the gang contacted the pensioner by telephone, claiming that he was a bank employee and wanting to confirm the completion of a bank transfer. Upon hearing that the victim did not authorize the transfer, the criminal said that the bank’s fraud sector would contact her. Shortly afterwards, another member of the gang called, and told her that her phone had a virus. To solve the problem, he claimed that it would be necessary to install an app. The next day, they called her again, claiming that it was not possible to solve the problem, and that the bank would provide a new device through a delivery guy. Before that, however, the victim went to the police station. Police officers went to the victim’s house and arrested the two criminals when they were visiting her dressed as bank employees.
11/01/2023 – A man died after a shooting with police officers who were starting an operation in Complexo do Chapadão, North Zone. According to the police, at the beginning of the operation officers were attacked by gunfire and there was a shooting. After, they found the injured man, but he succumbed to his injuries. Two men were arrested and with them a gun, a grenade and drugs were seized. The objective of the operation was to provide support to the Railway Group in stations in the region. At the Costa Barros station, the police were searching some passengers.
12/01/2023 – The former candidate for state deputy known as Fabio Charuto, was shot and placed inside the trunk of a car, in Curicica, Jacarepaguá, West Zone. According to the Civil Police, the man has not yet been found. Officers were called about a kidnapping on Travessa da Creche. At the scene, witnesses said that the former candidate was taken by armed men who wore balaclavas (ninja-type caps) and were in a car. After shooting him, they put his body in the trunk and fled the scene.
