Dutch Senior Citizen Dies After Being Beaten by Culture-Enriching Bike Thieves

Many thanks to FouseSquawk for translating this article from De Telegraaf:

Man dies of heart attack after beating

Hague resident died after beating by bicycle thieves

by Marieke Van Essen
September 19, 2019

The Hague — The 71-year-old Hague resident, who died of a heart attack after a beating this week, is probably the victim of ruthless street scum. The perpetrators are also possibly involved in the beating of 34-year-old Ewout last month in the Westwood nightlife venue.

Photo caption: Ewout was knocked out last month when he caught bike thieves. “I had to eat and drink through a straw.”

The suspects seem to be involved in the theft of [electric] bicycles. That comes from investigation by this newspaper.

In the sophisticated Staten quarter there is much shock over what happened on Monday afternoon in the busy Willem de Zwijgerlaan. A local resident, who was shopping, says that the man “had a heart attack” after he had stumbled home.

Antoine Veerkamp lives close to the sandwich shop where the Hague resident was beaten by the door. “On camera images I gave to the police, three dark-complected boys can be seen pulling on bicycles. When an older man arrives, they suddenly go after him, “ he says. “Many bicycles are stolen here. They do this by hanging around a strange lock. Later the thieves come back and take the bike with them.”

“Police drove on”

According to a local resident, the chance is very high that he himself “literally bumped into the same suspects” when he had to go to the post office shortly before the fatal beating. “I saw a group of three boys smoking joints in front of the primary school. I warned two officers, but to my surprise they drove on. On the way back, the same boys blocked my path with their bikes. I had only just arrived home when all the sirens sounded,” he says. Other local residents also recognize the image of street scum hanging around. “They were always sitting around at the Turkish baker’s, but he has recently left.”

The beating in the Staten quarter bears a striking resemblance to the beating of the self-employed entrepreneur and hockey trainer Ewout who in the night of 16-17 August, after a visit to the nearby nightlife venue, Westwood, suffered a broken jaw when he caught a group of three boys who wanted to steal his borrowed electric bicycle.

Reward for golden tip

When the Hague resident said something about it, he was knocked out. “I had to eat and drink through a straw for a week. Fortunately, I have been able to speak for the last couple of days,” he says. Because it was dark and the Hague resident could only see their backs, only a brief description is available. Last week, the police again called for witnesses. The friends of the Hague resident have offered a reward of €5,000 for the golden tip that leads to the bike thieves.

One thought on “Dutch Senior Citizen Dies After Being Beaten by Culture-Enriching Bike Thieves

  1. Google translator has one amazing phenomenon: it translates from Dutch to Russian even better than from English. But from French and German – very bad. Almost nothing is clear.

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