Family has boat stolen by bandits using kombi in the West Zone | Rio de Janeiro

Rio – A family had a boat and its trailer stolen by at least two criminals, in Sepetiba, in the West Zone of Rio. The crime took place in the early hours of March 23, in Alameda Santo Antônio, and the criminals used a kombi to transport . The vessel was covered and stored in an empty property under construction, which also belongs to the victims, next to the house where they live. The case is investigated by the 43rd DP (Guaratiba).

According to children’s entertainer Jerry Adriani da Silva, 45 years old, the family bought the boat and trailer between September and October last year, but were only able to enjoy the achievement during Christmas and New Year. He says he paid R$45,000 for the vessel and another R$7,000 for its trailer, but the loss should be close to R$55,000, as the criminals also took construction tools, such as a maquita and sander, valued at around of R$3 thousand.

Still according to Jerry, they only noticed the robbery in the morning, when his son noticed that the property’s gate was open. After noticing the disappearance, the entertainer asked for help from neighbors with images from street security cameras. The videos he obtained show two men breaking the house’s lock, entering and then carrying the boat out. From another point, it is possible to see the vessel being pulled by a kombi, with its own trailer. The family was unable to identify the vehicle’s license plate due to the brightness of the headlights.

Born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, the entertainer reported that when he arrived in Rio, around 25 years ago, he slept on the streets. He also says that he worked for around 15 years, in different jobs, to be able to buy the boat, which is named after his mother-in-law, Zefinha Barros, as a form of tribute, after her death. Since he announced the theft and said he was willing to pay a reward, he has been receiving several messages from people who claimed to have the vessel and asked for payments of up to R$10,000, through PIX, to return it.

“It was a dream of ours for a long time to have this boat. We worked for 10 to 15 years to make this dream of having the boat come true. We had few moments of pleasure with the boat, we only managed to enjoy it at Christmas and New Year (… ) In addition to the material loss, there is the sentimental one. That boat is named after my mother-in-law, it’s not for nothing, she was everything to me, so I named the boat after the feeling I had about that achievement. They ended that dream in a matter of 20 minutes, they took away a person’s life’s work”, he lamented.

The last trace of the kombi that the family got was on Estrada de Sepetiba. Jerry received a report that the boat was in the João XXIII community, in Santa Cruz, also in the West Zone, but he did not find it there. They suspect that someone who knew them and knew about the boat may have participated in the theft, as it was not exposed. When contacted, the Civil Police reported that efforts are underway to determine who was responsible for the crime and clarify all the facts.

“I don’t know how to turn on the television, I don’t know what it’s like to sit in the living room of my house, I work a lot. When I’m not at events, on the weekend, I’m doing work, during the week, so that a citizen like that can come and take my dream”, said the entertainer. Having lived in Sepetiba for 19 years, he said that the street is quiet, with only a flow of residents and that he had never seen anything like it. However, he claims that the neighborhood has little police.

“It’s a feeling of insecurity, because we live in a situation of total insecurity, impotence, because we don’t have help from public authorities. My indignation, my revolt is that we don’t have efficient public authorities in the neighborhood, we don’t have vehicles. I can go out on the street, walk around the entire neighborhood, which doesn’t have a vehicle. Now, we’re in this fight, chasing and trying to rescue what was our life’s dream.”