7 News Belize

Female Tacos Vendor Flung Off Motorbike and Robbed
posted (December 1, 2016)
Every morning single mother of two, Mayra Castellanos hooks a trailer to the back of her motorcycle and rides from Ladyville to Hattieville to sell her tacos. She's been doing this seven days a week for the last seven years, but two days ago that all changed after she was attacked, thrown off her bike, broke her leg and was robbed. Here's what Castellanos' told us about the incident.

Mayra Castellanos – Tacos Vendor
"Well what happened was that left Hattieville around ten- eleven, it was about eleven change, eleven twenty something like that. So, passing prison, like a mile after prison, there was a dog on the road standing up in the middle of the road. SO I slowed down on the motorcycle, because I was pulling a trailer. So I slowed down a little, but I still moved aside, and I saw one guy running from the bush and came just exactly in front of me, standing up with something that looked like a firearm, pointed to my face. And I was under speed, like 30 mph, so the first reaction was to try and stop as much as I could but I saw something like a gun, so I released the clutch and the breaks and continued going because obviously I was still going to hit him. So, I did hit the man with the motorcycle, and that made me fly off the bike. So, that's when I dropped on the ground and broke my knee, so I couldn't move. And at that moment the next guy already got to the spot, and they searched me and took my sales money and some other money that I had because I owed somebody. I was supposed to drop $100 dollars that day, so I took the money with me in the morning, so that when I came back I could stop by the house and pay them. And plus, I think somebody came to pay me fifty dollars too, that they had for phone cards or something. So, they went with my sales money, and the money that I was supposed to pay this person. They went with my cell phone too and ran into the bush like nothing."

Castellanos told us that she thinks she was targeted because she travels alone on the road every day. But, even though she will be out of commission for a month and a half, Castellanos says that as soon as her leg heals, she'll be back to business as usual.

Mayra Castellanos – Tacos Vendor
"Well that makes it rough on me. I have an 18-year-old daughter that is attending UB in Belmopan, and I have a nine-year-old child that has a kidney situation. I am the sustainer of my family, as a single mother, I am the sustainer of the family. So, obviously that takes me out of the business for a month and a half, so that's going to be very rough for me. But as soon as my leg gets better, I will be right back in my same place, in the same spot. This is not going to stop me from making my money. I'm not stealing from anyone; I'm not doing anything to anyone. I will be right back, and as much as I can. I think they'll have to kill me to stop me, because this isn't going to stop me. This is just my first vacation, and I know I'm going to get back."

According to Castellanos, police had one person is custody, but she was unable to identify him because her assailants were wearing shirts over their faces.

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