Incredible: Thieves Steal Only Tránsito Police Vehicle in San Ramón
From the incredible but true department, is the story of how a thief or group of thieves decided to divest the policía de tránsito (traffic police) in San Ramón (west of San José) of their only police two vehicle. The robbery occurred Thursday monrning outside the home of the tránsito official assigned to the vehicle.

The Toyota landcruiser is a trademark of the policía de tránsito, using this type of vehicle to patrol the roads as well as two away vehicles. The stolen unit is a 19992 model with official MOPT places 12-1814 and is valued at between ¢5 and ¢6 million colones (us$9.500 and us$11.300 dollars).

The unit is the only such vehicle in the San Ramón detachment and driver by policía de tránsito official, William Valverde Araya, who has been working with Tránsito for some five years.

It is a custom for policía de tránsito officials to take the vehicles home. In San José this custom appears to be used mainly by officials assigned to motorcycles and rank officials. In rural areas, the practice of taking the official police vehicle home is normal.

In this case, the sub-director of the policía de tránsito, Huanelger Gutiérrez, said that official Valverde asked for permission to stop by his home while on duty, to relieve himself and have a coffee, his home being close to his patrol duty.

The thieves took less than the ten minutes the policía de tránsito official took off duty and found a surprise when he left his home to get back on the job. Like magic the police vehicle had vanished and no one saw anything.

Valverde is discounting rumours that he left the engine running and the unit unlocked, telling superiors that he locked the vehicle and the keys in his pocket as was his custom.

Gutiérrez said yesterday that the case will be fully investigated and if the official did leave the keys in the ignition and the vehicle running, he will "feel the consequences".

And, notwithstanding a call to the tránsito delegations in Palmares and Naranjo and members of the Fuerza Pública (police) and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), the vehicle disappeared into the night.