Guard, resident killed in Mexico village heist

MEXICO -- A security guard and the brother-in-law of a British national residing at Beverly Place in Mexico town were killed by still unidentified suspects Sunday evening.

Investigators and Scene of the Crime Operatives said that at 10 p.m., five suspected robbers wearing bonnets robbed the home of Roy Thompson where the lone unnamed security guard at Phase 8 of the village was shot dead, along with the brother of Thompson’s Filipina wife.

The Thompson couple was not home during the incident. Beverly Place head of security Jenny Hernandez said the suspects may have used the back gate to enter the village and escaped after the heist through a spot in the unfinished perimeter fence.

An estimated P100,000 worth of jewelry, cellular phones and cash were taken by the suspects.

Beverly Place Homeowners Association president Engr. Alan David told Sun.Star Pampanga that the incident is the fourth this year.

“This is what we have been telling Sta. Lucia Realty all along. The Thompson robbery and the killing of two people is already the fourth this year, after two frustrated homicides and the serious physical injury of a 73-year-old whose home was similarly burglarized,” said David.

“The developer has promised to complete the perimeter fence but nothing has happened. They also promised to beef up security by augmenting the 23 guards watching over the 700-hectare village but it has not been done. Then the cogon is so tall robbers hide there. And nothing has been done about the street lighting. Homeowners here are constantly living in fear,” he added.

David said their requests, including the completion of the 18-hole golf course (of which only nine holes have been created), have been forwarded to Sta. Lucia and the regional office of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, upon the intervention of Vice President Jejomar Binay himself.

“That was many months ago and the case is still pending at HLURB. Even Sta. Lucia Realty has not been acting on our repeated requests. And because of their non-compliance, the homeowners are compelled to sue and ask authorities to revoke or suspend its license,” said David.

He added that Mayor Teddy Tumang has promised to arrange a meeting with them immediately.