by Brian Major
Last updated: 12:00 PM ET, Wed November 5, 2014
PHOTO: The U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas this week issued a crime alert to U.S. travelers and residents. (Photo by Brian Major).
With the historic town of Nassau, Bahamas wracked by a year-long upswing in reports of violent crime, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas this week issued an alert advising U.S. citizens traveling to and living in and the Bahamas to "remain on heightened alert to avoid being victims of crime."
While U.S. citizens have not been specifically targeted, "over the past several weeks there has been an increase in the level of crime in areas where U.S. citizens live and frequent," according to the Embassy statement.
Most recently three armed robberies of U.S. citizens "occurred in daylight hours in heavily frequented tourist areas, including an armed assailant assaulting and robbing a woman walking near Ardastra Gardens," according to the Embassy. In addition, two armed men robbed customers waiting in the drive-through restaurant during daylight hours last month.
The statement also warns U.S. citizens to be wary of rouge personal water craft (PWC) excursion vendors, who frequently operate independently of the resort companies whose beaches they frequent.
"The water sports rental industry is only loosely regulated; since July, there have been three reported sexual assaults on U.S. citizens, including minors, by jet ski operators on Paradise Island," the alert reads. Travelers are advised to review their personal security plans and monitor local news stations and the U.S. State Department website.
The Bahamas has wrestled over the past year with increasing reports of violent crime targeting residents and tourists alike. This week's alert is the third crime-related warning issued this year by the Nassau Embassy. In December Perry Christie, the Bahamas prime minister, said growing crime threatens to halt the country's tourism growth.
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