A Message For Muggers

A 70-year old cruise ship passenger was taking in the sights at Limon, Costa Rica. Pretty typical day trip from one of the cruises, right? Well, a mugger made it a very unusual trip. Wearing a mask the 20-year old street tough, who was well known as a bad actor by the police, tried to hold up a van load of cruise passengers.

And the 70-year old military veteran killed him.

The assault occurred during a ship stopover Wednesday in Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose, Costa Rica's capital.

Adams was with 12 American tourists who hired a driver to explore Costa Rica for a few hours. They were climbing out of the van to visit a Caribbean beach when three masked men ran toward them, she said. One held a gun to her head, while the other two pulled out knives.

Suddenly, one of the tourists, a U.S. military veteran trained in self defense, jumped out of the van and put the gunman in a headlock, according to Limon police chief Luis Hernandez.

Hernandez said the American, whom he refused to identify, struggled with the robber, breaking his collarbone and eventually killing him. Police identified the dead man as Warner Segura, 20. The other two assailants fled.

Afterward, the tourists drove Segura to a hospital, where he was declared dead. Sergio Lopez, a Red Cross auxiliary, examined Segura's body and said he died from asphyxiation.

I know the criminal died in this instance, but I love stories like this. Just like the 70-year old retired British SAS soldier who kicked four attacker's butts in Germany. Thugs who prey on the elderly thinking they make easy targets need more warnings like this. But notice that the passengers also tried to save the mugger's life. Americans are funny that way.