Police patrols were increased at the port city of Limon, Costa Rica, after a US senior citizen killed a mugger with his bare hands.
Officials said they planned to double the number of police on patrol during stopovers by cruise ships in the port city, a surfing, fishing and diving destination. Officials also plan to install security cameras around the city and have police to keep a closer eye on vehicles carrying tourists, reported the AP
Three armed assailants held up a bus ferrying about a dozen tourists from a docked cruise ship to a beach. A retired member of the American military put one of the attackers in a headlock, breaking his collarbone, officials said.
The would-be mugger was later declared dead, apparently from asphyxiation.
Police did not press charges, and the unidentified American tourist was allowed to return to his cruise ship to finish his vacation.
A spokeswoman for Costa Rica’s Tourism Ministry, Marcela Villalobos, said that between October and February some 40 cruise ships dropped off a total of 85,000 tourists in Limon. Over the same period, four security incidents were reported to authorities.
Report by David Wilkening
