Third young woman stabbed and robbed on Utrecht block in one week

Three different women have been stabbed in robbery attempts on the Balijelaan, or the bridge just west of the street, in the Rivierenwijk district in Utrecht. In the third incident, a 20-year-old Nieuwegein woman suffered minor injuries early Tuesday morning.

She was conscious when she was treated for her injuries at the scene at about 12:20 a.m. The woman was taken to an area hospital. A description of the suspect was not released, and no arrests were publicly announced.

A similar incident happened near the intersection of Balijelaan and Croeselaan during the early morning hours of Saturday, September 30, police said over the weekend. “A 23-year-old woman from Utrecht was threatened with a sharp object there, and robbed of her shoulder bag. The perpetrator also stabbed her with the object, causing minor injuries,” police said at the time.

The suspect was described as a slender man in his mid-twenties, standing at 1.70 to 1.75 meters tall. He had dark hair, dark eyebrows, a mustache and a dark beard of about 1.5 centimeters. He was last seen wearing a dark blue tracksuit, possibly with a vest zipped up over his top. He rode a bicycle westbound towards the bridge after the robbery, which happened at about 2:25 a.m.

Just days earlier, a 23-year-old woman was also attacked and injured at the intersection of Balijelaan and Croeselaan. A spokesperson told AD that information about the incident was not released at the time “because of the social unrest that could arise.” Authorities did not release a description of the suspect in that case, and no arrests were announced.

The incident was reported by RTV Utrecht at the time. The local media outlet said the incident happened just before midnight on September 27. The victim was hospitalized in fair condition.

Recent history of violence and drug crimes on Balijelaan and Balijebrug

The small stretch road has been the scene of several other incidents in the past few years. In February 2022, a 37-year-old man was severely beaten at the intersection with Rijnlaan. He began to cross the street with a green light when a car turned into his path, nearly striking him. When the pedestrian tapped on the car’s window to admonish the driver, the driver allegedly struck the victim in the head, then kicked him repeatedly in the face and stomach.

“The driver then forced the man to apologize and hit him in the head,” police said. That suspect was described as being in his early twenties with black hair, a black beard, a gray sweatsuit and a sleeveless vest.

That same month, a 27-year-old man was beaten in a seemingly random attack by a group of five young men in their late teens and early twenties. They kicked and punched him until he was knocked down, and then they stomped on him and ran off, police said.

A purse snatcher was also active on the street a few years ago, and several drug dealing arrests have been made there, according to a review of police documents from the last three years.