Since the coronavirus pandemic began in late February, police have arrested at least ten different people for threatening police, bus drivers and supermarket staff with a coronavirus infection by spitting at them or coughing on them. The incidents are causing more concern among police officers, who have already modified their approach to criminal and domestic intervention because of the ongoing health crisis.
Weird
Mar 28 '20 15:15
Mar 26 '20 18:30
The driver of a car pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence said he had not been drinking much, but had eaten a large quantity of chocolate-covered cherry bonbons. It happened Wednesday night on Rijksweg-West in Arnhem, when police saw the vehicle "swerving and driving slowly."
He was given a breathalyzer test, which measured a quantity of 275 micrograms of alcohol per liter, about 25 percent over the legal limit.
Mar 26 '20 17:41
ABN Amro took a 183-million euro hit to its profits after a single US client failed to meet margin calls required to keep trading. The bank pointed to the market turmoil during the coronavirus pandemic when it reported the loss in a statement at the beginning of the business day.
Mar 12 '20 18:09
Several days after a Dutch man went missing in the eastern European country of Georgia, family, friends, and locals are trying to keep hope alive that he will be found safe and sound. Siem Wigger, 23, disappeared on Saturday in Kutaisi, the country's second largest city.
Even after days of searching by local authorities and Wigger's loved ones there was still no trace of the young man. "We're there for each other. That's all we can do," said Rik Steggink, one of Wigger's travel companions on their backpacking trip through eastern Europe.
Feb 29 '20 08:00
Over 11 thousand people get to celebrate their leap day birthdays in the Netherlands on Saturday. That includes six people who will turn 100 years old, said Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
The country is home to 466 children who were born on the last leap day, and another 475 who were born on February 29, 2012. People born in on leap day 2000 or later make up 2,368 of the country's leap babies.
Feb 17 '20 17:30
One man was rushed to the hospital today after an automatic fire suppression system was triggered in an indoor car park, choking off the victim's oxygen supply, emergency services providers confirm to NL Times. There was no fire in the building when the automatic system activated, causing the man to breathe in an abundance of the carbon dioxide gas used in the installation.
Jan 27 '20 17:50
Police in Amsterdam said they found 30 mobile phones stuffed inside a pair of cycling shorts being worn by a pickpocketing suspect at the time they detained him. Authorities took the 34-year-old man from Romania into custody when they made the discovery on January 21.
It happened during a performance in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, after several "reports of pickpocketing came in during the concert," police said. "Some victims could also provide a description."
All exits to the venue were sealed off, and a suspect fitting the description was spotted by police.
Jan 21 '20 16:10
Police arrested a third man connected to a shooting in Utrecht, where local residents said the perpetrator was dressed up like Zwarte Piet. The arrest in the 2018 case was announced on Tuesday. He is a 48-year-old man with no fixed address.
Two people were arrested in the case last June. Neither was believed to be the shooter, police said in July when they released images of the man they said was at large.
Jan 17 '20 07:30
The children found living an isolated existence in a hidden space on a farm in Ruinerwold last year responded to a book about their father Gerrit Jan van D., which is being published on Friday. They were "hit hard" by the book Spookhoeve Ruinerwold, written by journalists Silvan Schoonhoven and Marcel Vink, they said on talk show Op1 on Thursday.
Jan 16 '20 14:39
One Feyenoord fan went the extra mile to show his dedication to his favorite football club. He had his now-ex give birth in Belgium, so that he could name his son Feyenoord, the father said on Qmusic on Wednesday.
Jan 16 '20 11:00
Gerrit Jan van D. regularly beat and abused his children in the around nine years they were kept secluded on a farm in Ruinerwold, according to accounts of how he drove "evil spirits" out of them that he wrote down himself and testimony the children gave the police. In some of those "exorcisms" Van D. used his "spiritual sword", the Telegraaf reports based on those accounts, which are described in the book Spookhoeve Ruinerwold set to publish later this week.
Jan 12 '20 10:10
Eight railcars belonging to national rail operator NS were thoroughly covered in silver spray paint as they sat idle at the station in Wormerveer, Noord-Holland. Vandals painted all windows and doorways along the platform side of a pair of four-car trains, which were coupled in the middle.
"We find this incredibly antisocial," a spokesperson for the NS told RTL Nieuws. The affected train was removed from service and replaced with another vehicle. The NS said it has to remove the paint and clean the train.
Jan 9 '20 07:54
A suitcase containing body parts was found in a hangar at Schiphol airport. The authorities believe it involves a "lost suitcase" containing body parts that are intended for medical science, a spokesperson for the Koninklijke Marechaussee said to NH Nieuws.
The suitcase was found in a hangar where suitcases normally never go. "As soon as something is weird or punishable, we are called in. We opened the case and then made the lurid discovery," the spokesperson said. He could not say how the suitcase ended up in the hangar.
Jan 3 '20 20:09
A team of circus performers fell roughly ten meters to the ground during a performance at the Carre theater in Amsterdam, reported broadcaster AT5. The accident happened during Friday's second performance of the World Christmas Circus late Friday afternoon.
Police told several media outlets that one of the two circus performers was in critical condition, and the other was injured. The act, known as Sky Angels, comprises of a man and a woman performing acrobatic stunts, often swinging through the air with no safety net below.
Jan 2 '20 16:21
A passenger train derailment in Voorburg on Thursday was expected to interrupt scheduled service on the train route between The Hague and Utrecht through the night. There were no injuries among the passengers on the NS Intercity train when it went off the rails, according to rail infrastructure firm ProRail.
Jan 1 '20 16:09
Some ten thousand people took part in the annual New Year's dive into the North Sea. The chilly event takes place every New Year's Day at the beach in Scheveningen, The Hague.
This year marks the 61st edition of the event, the biggest of its kind in the Netherlands. Between the 127 other diving events held around the country and another 22 Dutch events held abroad, the total number of participants topped 60 thousand, according to Unox, the organizer of the annual event.
Dec 24 '19 15:54
Geertje Kuijntjes, who became the oldest living person in the Netherlands in 2015, has died at the age of 114. The lifelong resident of Gorinchem, Zuid-Holland, was unmarried with no children, according to RTL Nieuws.
"After a long and active life, our town's oldest inhabitant, and that of the Netherlands, Ms. Geertje Kuijntjes, died on Christmas Eve," wrote Gorinchem mayor Reinie Melissant. "I wish her surviving relations the strength to adjust to this loss."
Dec 23 '19 08:12
An investigation was ongoing into a weekend mystery where a dead body was found inside a car fished out of the Nieuwe Maas river. Police in Rotterdam say they arrested the driver of the car, a 38-year-old Rotterdammer, who managed to escape the vehicle despite having a stab wound.
It was not immediately clear how or when the car wound up in the water, but the Rotterdam driver emerged from the water between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Sunday. He was taken to an area hospital by ambulance, police said.
Dec 20 '19 17:00
Police in Amsterdam are looking for a man suspected of the repeated sexual harassment and assault of young women and girls. Investigators think the man may be responsible for at least a dozen attacks over a period of nearly twenty years.
Security camera footage of the man was released on Friday. One of the alleged assaults is shown in the video.
Dec 20 '19 15:56
A person of interest arrested as part of an investigation into a massive amount of missing gold was released from custody, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) said. Gold bars worth millions of euros went missing earlier this year, which authorities revealed as they raided a safety deposit box business in the heart of Rotterdam.
Dec 9 '19 18:42
Marco Kroon was sentenced on Monday by the Arnhem military court to a hundred hours of community service for accusations of headbutting a male cop, and exposing himself and wagging his genitalia at a female police officer. Kroon, a major in a Dutch Army special forces unit who was knighted by Princess Beatrix when she was the country's queen, denied that he intentionally headbutted one officer.
Dec 9 '19 11:40
A soaking wet train passenger and two others suffering from symptoms of hypothermia prompted an emergency response to Venlo, Limburg. One man had fallen into water in Eindhoven, and was pulled out by two others, a spokesperson for the fire department told AD. All three men are from Tanzania, and were taken to an area hospital for medical care, the police said in a separate statement.
Dec 9 '19 07:54
A 32-meter high toppled over Sunday night in Jorwert, Friesland, while a weather warning for strong winds was in effect. Though it was initially reported to the fire department as a possible case of storm damage, authorities told broadcaster NOS the cause is still under investigation.
It happened at about 6:45 p.m. on Hessensereed, a quiet road in the quiet Frisian town. The windmill fell across the street, blocking traffic in both directions.
Nov 25 '19 10:10
A gold bar that fell out of a transport van in Utrecht earlier this month has been returned to its rightful owner, thanks to an honest finder who made contact with the police.
The gold bar, worth between 200 thousand and 235 thousand euros, was inside a transport box that fell out of a transport van on November 15th, according to RTL Nieuws. The driver had picked up the bar at the Royal Mint. On the onramp to the A2 highway, the driver discovered that the van's side door was not closed properly and that the transport box was missing.
