Hmm, I don't know if I've been there. I was much younger when I lived there, but yeah, it's a very violent place. That kind of thing happens a lot.
I remember once going into a store while a friend waited with our bikes. When I came out my bike was missing, and he was like, yo they took your bike. I thought it was a joke of course and was like, yeah okay where'd you hide it? He told me one of the kids had gone into the store with knife to my back (I had no idea), and the other took the bike, which seems weird, but anyway. A couple days later an older friend was at his sisters' place in a much more ghetto area (favela) and noticed my bike being cleaned up. He took it and my pops gave him a reward for it.
We had bikes stolen from inside our "yard" too. I didn't even live in a bad area, but shit like that happens everywhere.