Mexican town’s residents kill 3 men accused of car theft

MEXICO CITY – Prosecutors in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas say residents of a town have killed three men who allegedly had tried to steal a car.

The Chiapas state attorney’s office said in a statement Friday that the men were caught in the act by the car’s owner and taken by residents to the central plaza of the San Lucas community in Chiapilla township. They were then beaten to death.

Prosecutor Enrique Mendez Rojas condemned the act and says authorities are working to identify those responsible.

Such acts of vigilantism occur with some regularity in Mexico, especially in more remote regions where residents have little faith in security forces or the justice system.