The Carnival cruise ship "Liberty" arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, in late February. The guests aboard the giant cruise vessel are mostly Americans. Among the guests are a dozen or so retired U.S. military guys — all of them now in their seventies.

Once the ship docks in San Jose, the retired seniors hire a tour bus on their own and head for Limon, a beautiful beach town along the Costa Rican Atlantic coast.

As the guys get off the small bus in Limon, they are confronted by three locals. One of them, later identified as Segura, age 20, is armed with a pistol. The bandits want wallets and jewelry. But these retired military guys are not ready to hand over their money that easily.

There’s a brief struggle. During the struggle one of the retirees, a 70-year-old we’ll call Warren, disarms the bandit leader and catches him in a headlock.

When the other two bandits see their leader is captured — they run like scared rabbits. Now that things have quieted down, Warren releases the 20-year-old bandit who then falls to the ground. He is unconscious and his collar bone is broken.

The seniors take Segura on their tour bus to a Red Cross station for treatment. Officials at the station pronounce him dead from asphyxiation.

The local police catch up with the seniors at the Red Cross and question them about the robbery incident. The seniors learn from the police chief that Segura has a criminal record and has been charged before with criminal assault.

Apparently satisfied after the questioning, the chief orders the seniors released so they can return to their cruise ship. The chief comments that the seniors had a right to defend themselves from the attack of the bandits.

The cruise ship held its departure for the returning retirees. They board quickly and are now headed for their next port-of-call in Panama.

Our thanks to Marianela Jimenez (AP) who first reported this story from Costa Rica and reports from Fox News.