Dutch duo arrested for harassing random victims with pizza deliveries, prostitutes, hearses
The Dutch police arrested two men for harassing at least eight families in very random ways. The victims were saddled with large pizza deliveries they didn't order, magazine subscriptions they never signed up for and in some cases even had sex workers and hearses showing up at their doors, AD reports.
The suspects are a 24-year-old from Schoonhoven and a 25-year-old from Rotterdam. They were arrested on June 20th. Their case will appear in court in September. As far as can be determined, they do not know their victims. "This was harassment for harassment's sake" one of the detectives on the case said to the newspaper.
This case came to the police's attention while some officers were eating at a restaurant in the Rotterdam district of Charlois. The restaurant owner told the officers that she just received a fake order, and when she called the number the person on the other side shouted at her. One of the officers called the number and also received a scolding. The man on the other side of the line said: "I did this because I like it. And I'll keep doing it", according to the newspaper.
Talking to the restaurant owner, the cops found that her family faced harassment for some time. Unordered food deliveries and taxis, weird and threatening telephone calls and one night an escort showed up at their door. The police investigation revealed victims in Rotterdam, Utrecht, Spijkenisse, Maasdam and Bodegraven.
Some of the victims were approached through an online forum for people seeking a loan. The perpetrators approached them pretending to be someone who wanted to lend out money. Once the victims provided their information, the harassment started. "We're going to make your life a living hell, I'm going to take out a loan in your name, they were told. It was extremely stressful for the people who went through it", prosecutor Wim ten Have said to AD.
The victims seem to be randomly selected. "These people don't have any conflicts", the detective said to the newspaper. "They have no problems with anyone. But they are terrified, they are desperate."
"We have never seen anything like this type of harassment: now and again a 14-year-old orders pizza for the neighbor who was mean or something, but that is something very different." the detective said. Ten Have adds: "Harassment often happens, but always from a kind of hate for someone. That was not the case here."
