Business owners fined for breaking curfew while protecting their stores

Multiple business owners in Geleen were fined by police for breaking curfew while they were trying to prevent rioters from breaking into their stores on Monday evening. Café owner, Rob Slangen, is furious. “I’m still shaking. That’s how angry I am.”, he says to RTL Nieuws.

Rob and other owners tried to protect their stores from being looting after riots broke out in Geleen Monday evening. “We did not want our business to get broken to pieces”, explains Rob. “Around 9:05 p.m., five minutes after the start of the curfew, five police cars drove onto our street.”

The officers proceeded to distribute fines, of 95 euros each, among the store owners present for violating the curfew. The owner of neighboring tattoo shop was taken into custody because he was upset over the fine, Rob said.

“If they would have arrived in one police car, I would have still understood it. But they came with five cars full of officers while the whole city was being overrun with rioters," Rob said to the broadcaster. "And we get the fine, while we were trying to protect our things.”

17 people between the ages of 17 and 55 were arrested in Geleen on Monday night for rioting. Multiple stores were looted and the riot squad had to intervene.