NATION : Watch Thieves Use Chain Saw

Two holdup men used a chain saw to cut off the left hand of an out-of-work migrant farm worker to steal his expensive watch and two rings, police said today.

“They did it for the sheer joy of doing it. That kind of random violence is frightening,” Police Chief Lane Roberts said.

The victim, a 20-year-old believed to be from Mexico, was listed in stable condition at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.

The victim told police he and his cousin were at a grocery store Friday in this Yakima suburb and were approached by two men who offered to sell them a chain saw. One of the men pulled a gun, and the two victims were forced into their own car and driven to a remote area, where the holdup men tried to remove the victim’s jewelry.

The man’s watch, valued at $1,500, had a special security latch that was difficult to open. The victim tried to show the robbers how to remove the watch, but they apparently “saw this as resistance and took the most expedient method to get to it,” Roberts said.