Getting Robbed in Kigali

Last Updated on February 12, 2024 by Travelationship

We got robbed. It sucked, but the events that transpired were unbelievable.

One of the biggest fears/concerns for any traveler is getting robbed. We all go into any travel experience hoping that our life and valuables will always be safe. We considered ourselves safe and aware travelers, me a bit more than Matt, but overall pretty aware of our surroundings.

How it went Down

It was our 2^nd evening in Kigali, and we had gone to eat at the UTC Buffet with our friends Willy and Laura. It’s ubiquitous for buildings in Kigali to have X-ray security at the entrance doors. Usually, we both stuff all our valuable items into the bottom of our backpacks, or Matt sometimes carries his phone & wallet in his buttoned pockets. As we went through the security, he emptied his pockets and placed them in the basket. When he picked them up on the other side, he, thinking it would just be for a minute, put his phone on the outside pouch of his backpack. When we sat down, he forgot to move his phone to the inside of his backpack.

Matt noticed after we were done eating that his phone was missing. Once we looked and could not find it, we all realized we had been robbed. Naturally, we all started coming up with ideas on what could have happened and who did it. Everyone not at our table was a suspect. Of course, not one of our scenarios came close to what happened. Luckily, we noticed a surveillance camera pointing over the eating area and crossed fingers that it was a working camera. We located the mall management and what transpired was an evening straight out of a spy movie.

The Culprit

In comes the thief (we named him Mr. Red and White), who jacked Matt’s phone right under all of our noses. We were all sitting at the table eating to our heart’s content with no idea a pair of thieves were watching us. Not only does the video clearly show Mr. Red and White lifting the phone, but also, by viewing the other surveillance footage from all the building security cameras, we were able to see that he and his partner (we named him Table Guy) saw Matt walk in and stalked him to steal his phone. Watch the video and notice the solo guy at the table to our left. He is Mr. Red and White’s partner. Mr. Red and White then move into position, and Table Guy serves as his eyes and tells him when we are all not paying attention.

Undercover Spy

If that wasn’t all exciting enough, enter no name undercover spy guy we named J.B. Bruchette. This was when the evening went from bad to unbelievably cool. The building manager said he knew a guy that could help and called a man with no name. An hour or so later walks Bruchette. We all laugh about it now, but this guy walked into the security office, and all 4 of us were in instant awe. Just his presence was straight out of a James Bond or spy movie. He barely spoke or made eye contact with us, but we all could feel this guy was cool as cool could be. He was mesmerizing, and we all couldn’t stop staring at him. We attempted to memorize his face to see if we could ever recognize him again.

He watched the video and said he knew the man and knew where he frequented. He said he would look for him and let us know if anything further transpired. We then asked him to show us where we needed to go in the morning to file a police report, and he said he would ride with us to show us. First, we had to take him to get the bag he had left behind to come and assist us. As part of his cover, he has a day job on the streets. We cannot tell you what he does because that would blow his cover, but it was cool! We pull up to the day job location, and it looks abandoned. Out of the shadows pops, one of his counterparts. He and Bruchette had a few words. We like to think Bruchette was telling him not to hurt us because we were their new clients or something spy fanatical like that. Most likely, he was telling him we were the idiots that got our phones stolen. Whatever it may have been, we got the head nod from his counterpart, and Bruchette got his bag.

From Bad to Good

We offered him a ride home, and he accepted. We were all super giddy, thinking we would get to see where a spy lived in Kigali. One after another, we bombarded him with questions, which he graciously answered. He entered the business after he served as a soldier. Bruchette has a family but didn’t elaborate. He can arrest a suspect on the spot and has done it several times. Being a soldier was much more dangerous than what he does now. We told him he was the new Kigali James Bond, and he smiled. We all giggled when he smiled; we thought we had broken the code to life or something. As we approached an intersection, he let Willy know to drop him there. Any spy would not show you their home. But still, we had hoped. We aren’t sure if it was even near his home or if he was just sick of all of us acting like ten-year-olds.

Bruchette left our car and disappeared into the night’s darkness within seconds. Our night of getting robbed became a scenario of a spy movie, and we were the costars. We have looked for Bruchette on the streets to no avail. We joke he is lurking in the shadows watching us make sure we don’t make stupid choices again. He is our Kigali secret spy hero.

Have you had a bad situation turn into a funny story? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

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