Downtown Disney crime

[nbodyhome]

The first time we went to the UK, there had been a rash of reports about "happy slapping". Then we went to lovely St. James Park, and there was a sign up about a rape that happened at the park.

We enjoyed the UK, London and St. James Park. I don't tend to worry about single incidents, they can happen anywhere.

 

[lgp1]

Wherever you are you always need to be careful in certain situations. The main thing is to use commonsense. If you feel that somewhere could be dangerous then make sure you stay with a group, if that's possible. Other than this leave a bit earlier when there are a lot of people around. As long as you are careful you should have a trouble free holiday. Enjoy

 

[ANTSS2001]

This is not the kind of story we like to see in our Orlando Sentinel in the morning, and hopefully it is only a one-off rather than an indicator of anything more serious, but two American tourists were abducted at gunpoint in Downtown Disney late last night.

While we tend to down-play any crime in the Orlando area in general (most of it is NOT tourist-related), this is definitely something to be cautious about. We expect there to be a significant increase in police presence in the interim until these people are caught and we would stress this is a very rare occurrence in WDW. But it is a concern for the tourist business and people should be aware of it happening. Hopefully we will have news of these people being caught soon.

Here is the Sentinel story:

Etan Horowitz and Erika Hobbs
Sentinel Staff Writers

June 10, 2007, 11:25 AM EDT

Two Connecticut tourists were abducted and robbed at gunpoint shortly after midnight Sunday morning after a Downtown Disney shopping trip.

According to the Orange County Sheriffs Office, a man in a black Volkswagen Jetta called out a question to the couple, who were staying at a Disney resort, as they walked through the parking lot at the entertainment-and-shopping hotspot.

When they stopped to answer, the couple, Justin Stetzer, 20, and Jessica Dellacamera, 20, both of Branford, Conn., were forced into the car at gunpoint.

Deputies said that three men inside the Jetta drove the tourists to a gas station and forced Stetzer to withdraw money from an ATM. After stopping at an unknown location, the men took the couple to a remote location near an Osceola County landfill.

They forced the couple out of the car and beat them, striking Stetzer in the head with a handgun. But the two fought back against their attackers, and in the scuffle, the gun discharged. That scared the men, who panicked and fled.

According to deputies, Stetzer and Della camera walked to nearby Kissimmee home and called the police. They were not seriously injured. The men were able to leave with both the cash and the purchases the couple left behind.

Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez declined to say which resort the pair was staying at or how much longer they would remain in Florida. She said that Disney officials were working with the two "to take care of their immediate needs."

we were there that week... heard about it on TV in the hotel room... the next time we went to DTD you would really notice that the Security were more visible and the sheriff cars are in every corner of DTD driving up and down from marketplace all the way to West Side and also at the Parks parking Lot... driving around even after the CM had left. Even at the resorts... when we went to have dinner at Boma and it was a bit late and the Security was driving almost every 15 minutes checking cars at the resort parking lot... So we felt very safe during our vaca...

 

[RuddClan]

Is this still the case? Increased police/security? Did they catch the people responsible?

Any news?

 

[nbodyhome]

Is this still the case? Increased police/security? Did they catch the people responsible?

Any news?

I saw more security the other night - but I didn't feel like DD needed it.

 

[afcgirl]

The two people whe were allegedly kidnapped and robbed from DTD refused to take a type of lie detection test and said they would not press charges against their attackers. The Orlando police therefore have decided not to pursue the investigation. There have been allegations that the "victims" were heavy drug users and possibly a drug deal went bad. Who knows what the real truth was, but the "victims" have been largely discredited.

 

[disneyholic family]

The two people whe were allegedly kidnapped and robbed from DTD refused to take a type of lie detection test and said they would not press charges against their attackers. The Orlando police therefore have decided not to pursue the investigation. There have been allegations that the "victims" were heavy drug users and possibly a drug deal went bad. Who knows what the real truth was, but the "victims" have been largely discredited.

that may be true, but given the legal system in the US, i would never press charges either....you have to be totally nuts to even consider testifying against criminals in the US.....

and i can certainly understand someone underage not wanting to undergo a lie detector test.....too much of a pandoras box....what if the police ask them if they'd been drinking (illegally given their age), or if they use drugs...
nope, better to steer clear of the men in blue....