Fugitive wanted for Rotterdam robbery-turned-murder arrested

On Thursday the police arrested 25-year-old Soufyan M. during a car check in Amsterdam. M. was on the national wanted list since he went on the run after being sentenced to four years in prison for a robbery in Rotterdam in which a 35-year-old man was killed.

The man was caught during a traffic check on Ookmeerweg in Amsterdam. Officers pulled over a car around 8:45 p.m. because the owner of the car appears in the police systems several times, the police said in a statement on Friday morning. The officer who checked the car recognized M. almost immediately. According to the police, M. said that he was actually relieved to be arrested because now he doesn't have to "look over his shoulder" anymore.

On July 13th, 2016 M. and three others robbed a home on Crooswijkseweg in Rotterdam. The 35-year-old resident of the home was killed in the robbery. Police responded to the home around 3:45 a.m. that day following reports from neighbors that several persons forced their way into the home. At the scene the police found the severely wounded man on his balcony. He had multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene.

The Public Prosecutor demanded 10 years in prison against three of the suspects, Youssef A., Ridouan El Y. and Soufyan M., according to newspaper AD. The suspects refused to give a statement, so it never became clear who fired the fatal shots. They were eventually sentenced to prison, M. got four years. The fourth suspect Hicham E. was acquitted for this crime, as the court did not consider it proven that he was present during the shooting. He was, however, sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in a previous robbery at a jeweler in Maastricht.