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February 6, 2000 A Supreme Court Justice is a very big man, wherever you find him. Most even marginally intelligent people will not go looking for trouble with such a power-house of political influence, public respect and legal horsepower. So it was more than a little surprising when three thieves broke into the house of Honduras Supreme Court Justice Hernan Silva, in broad daylight, Sunday afternoon, January 30, 2000. A neighbor of the distinguished barrister saw what was going on, picked up the telephone and yelled "COP" at the very top of his lungs. Three uniforms arrived in short order, pistols in hands, and the shooting started as soon as they got out of their car. The arrival of the cops put a serious damper on the robbery-in-progress. Two of the heisters took to their heels and were seen no more. The third member of the gang was shot and wounded, which effectively prevented his fleeing, along with his partners in crime. When the smoke cleared, two of the banditos were gone. The third one was on his way to a secured room in a local hospital, and there was an unexplained car parked at the curb, full of the aforesaid Judge Silva’s household valuables, appliances, and such. Before departing the invaded premises, the first team of policemen called the station-house for some back-up. Shortly thereafter, three more uniforms arrived on the scene. These newly-arrived gang-busters were left to guard and protect what was left of Judge Silva’s broken and entered manse. A bit later, the same neighbor who had called the police and foiled the initial burglary, looked out his window again and, much to his surprise, observed the second trio of policemen picking up right where the first threesome of banditos had left off. The newly-arrived policemen were busily loading more loot from the Judge’s house into the car at the curb, in clear preparation for carrying it away, once they finished the job - or the car was filled to capacity - whichever happened first. So the bright-eyed and alert neighbor called the police-station once more, to report yet another robbery of Justice Silva’s house. Again, a team of police arrived on the scene and, this time, succeeded in arresting the larcenous trio of rogue cops, who were trying to finish the job their mufti-clad predecessors had only begun. Hector Mejia, the official mouthpiece for the Tegucigalpa, Honduras, police department, seemed unequivocal in his firm declaration that the three captured policemen involved in the Second Act of the Silva robbery would be tried. As for the first threesome, two of the robbers escaped on foot. The third one, who was shot, captured and hospitalized under guard, also inexplicably escaped from the hospital. "Inexplicably", since he did his disappearing act under the presumably watchful eyes of an armed security person, assigned to full-time duty in the injured robber’s hospital room. This is the kind of scenario that made Hollywood's "Keystone Cops" headline movie entertainment all over the world, sixty or seventy years ago. Honduras police can dish up the same kind of story-line without a script, in what passes for "line of duty" routine. Are they, perhaps, in the wrong line of work? =========== E N D =============== Lorenzo Dee Belveal
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