Posted on 04/05/2011 9:24:28 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
TORONTO — A retired Ontario couple who spent the winter touring Mexico in a Winnebago says their years of police training helped them fend off eight gunmen during an ambush near the U.S. border.
Jack and Eileen Appleton were a few miles from the bridge that would take them from Matamoros to Brownsville, Texas last Thursday when a gold SUV sped up beside them and a man wearing a balaclava and waving a rifle ordered the Canadians to pull over.
That's when their police instincts kicked in -- both the Niagara Falls residents spent 26 years in law enforcement.
As the gunmen swerved into their lane to cut them off, 62-year-old Jack slammed on the breaks and threw the 10-metre-long motorhome into reverse. The former Mountie then sped to a nearby gas station while his 66-year-old wife, a retired Toronto cop, snapped photos from the passenger's seat.
"There's not many people in their life who get to stare down eight guys armed to the teeth," he said. "We weren't heroes or anything. You just do what you've got to do, and that's what we did. Maybe we just reacted on our training, although it's 40 years out of date."
The SUV followed the Appletons, pulling into the gas station trailed by two other vehicles carrying six more men with guns. Two of the attackers stormed over to the Winnebago and demanded the camera. Eileen refused to give it up and stuffed it down her blouse.
Nigel, the couple's 55-pound airedale terrier, started barking madly and one of the men put a rifle to the dog's head.
"I said to one of the kids, 'Que pasa?' What's going on?'," Jack recalled in an interview Monday. "And he said to me in English, 'You're acting suspicious."'
During the struggle that ensued, one of the men grabbed Eileen and ripped open her blouse, snatching the camera. She attempted to hit one of them with a roundhouse kick but missed. All eight attackers then got back in their cars and sped off.
Nobody at the gas station would admit to witnessing the 10-minute incident.
The Appletons still aren't sure why they were targeted.
"To this minute, I cannot figure out what the hell these guys wanted," said Jack. "It just does not make any sense."
Perhaps they were after the Winnebago, or wanted money, he speculated. Local police said the men could have thought the couple was transporting rival gang members.
Mexican authorities took a report but didn't send out any cars or take any action, the couple said.
"You'd have thought we were trying to report a stolen bicycle," said Eileen. "They weren't concerned at all."
U.S. border guards also took a report, and the Appletons are considering approaching the Mexican embassy and their local MP when they return to Canada. They're currently spending a week in Texas.
The Appletons have spent the last 16 winters in Mexico and said they were aware of the risks tourists face in some parts of the country.
Foreign Affairs has a travel advisory in place, warning Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to Mexican towns close to the border.
An expert on tourism to Mexico says travellers should stick with organized group tours rather than venturing out on their own.
"There is a history of all kinds of undesirable events," said Gabor Forgacs, a professor at Ryerson University's school of hospitality and tourism management. "There are known pockets where there is frequent drug-related violence. Those are locations people should stay away from."
Canadians may not be prepared for the difference in culture and language, said Forgacs. Staying in a resort is the safest way for tourists to enjoy Mexico, he added.
But the attack hasn't deterred the Appletons, who say the weather in Mexico is the best on earth.
"As far as I know, we're heading down next winter. We may just change our exit strategy a little," said Jack. "We'll come through in the morning instead of late in the afternoon."
That ought to do it, Jack. /sarc
OK I’m at a loss, what “special” police training was evidenced in this encounter. Sounds more like they were just damn lucky the bad guys didn’t just blow them away for being a pain in the butt.
why in the world would anyone venture into this hole of a country?
Sheesh. . .no “special” police training.
And these are the usual arrogant tourists that think they know the locals and can stay out of trouble. . .in Mexico of all places.
For key-rist sakes, these people are too dumb to breathe.
I have no sympathy for tourists in Mexico...enter at your own risk and don’t be surprised when someone decapitates you. (8^(l) doh!
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Golly, Sherlock, what do you think that means? I'll bet if you close your eyes and think really hard, you might be able to puzzle your way through that one.
Hoisting the BS flag on their story.....
Don’t believe it....
“”We’ll come through in the morning instead of late in the afternoon.”
I used to do occasional work in some crack infested welfare rich neighborhoods. I learned my lesson on going late in the afternoons and thereafter always made the appointments for early in the morning.
Stuffing the camera down her blouse took years of training.
I was thinking the same thing. I was waiting to read that he threw the motorhome into a J-turn and PITted one of the bad guys’ cars or something. The guy seemed to keep his head and talk fast, and she had the presence of mind to snap pictures, but that’s about it. They’d have been better off with an AR-15 in the motorhome and her willingness to use it. (Actually, they’d have been better off being like the rest of the Canadians and going to Florida instead of Meheeco.)
}:-)4
I’d a shot ya for doin that ....:o)
< / sarcasm>
Why in the world would anyone even think about vacationing in Mexico when there are so many beautiful spots in the US and Canada?
and they are very lucky they were not...you have to wonder why anyone would tour that desolate part of Mexico these days like that.
i am very familiar with northern Mexico tween Monterey-Saltillo-Durango and Brownsville-McAllen-Laredo-Piedras Negras etc
man..it is pretty rough country even without bandits and cartels and brujo-santeria type nutjobs
why an old couple would roam around there beats me
Just the same, trading standard mags for happy sticks doesn’t seem like such a bad idea....
Minor thing here but misspelled words just leap off the page at me: “slammed on the breaks...” From a newspaper, too. That would “slammed on the brakes.”
These yahoos are lucky to be alive.
Ditto...
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