Owner of Petticoat saw suspect before hostage situation: "looked lifeless, like a doll"

The 28-year-old man from Ede, who took four employees hostage at the party venue Café Petticoat on Saturday morning, had been in the pub for a while shortly before the hostage-taking and appeared confused, reported Kevin, the 37-year-old owner of the Petticoat. According to him, the suspect is said to have started the hostage-taking at around half past four in the morning by forcing the four employees to sit on the floor and empty their pockets. The hostage-taker looked lifeless and almost like a doll, Kevin told de Telegraaf.

Kevin has owned the Petticoat, which has been particularly popular with young people for around ten years. But nothing like this has ever happened in all those years. The party venue usually closes at around four in the morning at weekends. While the staff tidy everything up just before closing time, Kevin sets up the terrace outside.

This was also a common procedure on Saturday until the 28-year-old took the staff hostage. Kevin remembers that the hostage-taker was only a meter away from him when he entered the pub before the incident. Kevin didn't notice anything strange about him, except that he looked rather lifeless and empty. However, the owner did not perceive the 28-year-old man as dangerous at the time. Otherwise, he would never have let him into the pub, Kevin told the newspaper.

At five o'clock in the morning, however, the 37-year-old owner noticed something strange when he looked at the surveillance footage from his store on his cell phone. He could see his employees kneeling on the floor.

Completely shocked, Kevin called his employees on their phones, but no one answered. Shortly afterwards, he noticed a masked man on the footage. Even though the 37-year-old owner wasn't sure at first whether it was all a bad joke, he called the police to be on the safe side. A short time later, the police arrived and informed him about the hostage-taking and the seriousness of the situation.

After the huge police operation in the center of Ede, three of the employees were released around 11.30 a.m. Shortly afterwards, the fourth hostage was also released, followed by the 28-year-old hostage-taker himself.

"I heard from my associate and the three employees who were inside that the man was quite calm. Not very aggressive. The police negotiator was able to convince him quite easily that his mission was hopeless," Kevin told de Telegraaf.

However, the 37-year-old does not want to comment on the current state of his employees. He wants them to be left alone, especially because they are young people he wants to protect.

It is very important to me to protect them. I hope they are left alone. They are 19 and 20. My associate is a bit older. They are doing okay, but I don't want to speak for them," he told the newspaper.

A spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office announced that the suspect will be charged on Tuesday. According to de Telegraaf, an examining magistrate will then decide how long the 28-year-old man from Ede will remain in custody.