Overview

• On September 3 at La Estación in San Isidro de El General, 25-year-old Sol Vargas stopped a bag-snatching attempt and restrained the suspect until staff called police.
• Surveillance footage spread widely online, with onlookers describing a triangle choke as Vargas insisted her response was purely instinctive.
• Police took the suspect into custody shortly after the struggle, and reports noted he suffered facial injuries.
• Vargas said the encounter motivated her to begin self-defense training following the attention from the viral video.
• Coverage situates the incident within Costa Rica’s public-safety concerns, citing nearly 43,000 crimes recorded in 2024 with robbery among the top offenses.