The upscale Multiplaza Escazú shopping center was the scene of two armed robberies in the span of eight days. One occurred last Tuesday, Oct. 31, and the second on Wednesday, November 8, 2017.

The thefts alarmed customers and provoked a response from the Public Security Ministry who was surprised at the occurrences.

In response, the shopping mall said they will be hiring armed guards, and are coordinating with municipal police for them to make regular rounds on the property. Individual shops may consider incorporating better security features as well.

Robberies inside shopping malls are very infrequent, especially during daytime hours in the case of these two, for the obvious reasons such as the difficulty in making a quick get away, and the levels of security that are not present at a smaller shop or home.

Police were shocked that the mall’s security did not seem to have protocols in place to deal with such incidents, and said they received alerts from Multiplaza Escazú between five and 10 minutes after the robberies had occurred which limited the police’s ability to track down and capture the suspects.

The second robbery took place around noon when two armed men held up a lottery stand run by a disabled individual, and stole cash and lottery tickets, said Ministry of Public Security, Carlos Hidalgo. The lottery stand is next to the Tukis game arcade.

The suspects fled the mall on a white and black motorcycle with a crumpled license plate, and used a red bag to carry the stolen items, according to Hidalgo. They made off with some 500,000 colones in cash, m and about 80 million colones worth of lottery tickets.

The first, on October 31, involved a band of assailants who entered Eurochoronos jewelry store, broke open glass cases, and filled sacks with jewelry and cash before fleeing in a van.

This assault was apparently conducted by a Mexican gang composed of at least 20 people who arrived in the country October 26 for the purpose of conducting this and another jewelry store robbery at Escazú’s Plaza Colonial, said the Costa Rican Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ).

Hidalgo recommended that Mutliplaza Escazú ensure their security guards immediately phone local police if any future incidents occur so that police can act quickly to pursue the attackers.