Amsterdam women beaten in road rage hunt down driver

Gonneke Janssen (29) and Michelle Hogenbirk (28) were assaulted by a furious motorist on Linnaeusstraat, Amsterdam in the early morning hours of Sunday. They put a message up on Facebook, asking for witnesses to come forward and help them find this man. The two Amsterdam women were on their way home from a birthday party in De Pijp at around 03:30 Sunday morning. They were pushing their bikes because the chain came off. "We crossed at the pedestrian crossing on the corner of Linnaeusstraat/Eerse van Swindenstraat - Gonneke led the way - when a silver gray Seat passed and hit the front wheel of my bike", Hogenbirk told NU. "I managed to stay on my feet, shrugged my shoulders and walked on." A bit farther up Linnaeusstraat someone grabbed Hogenbirk's arm. She looked around and saw a young man, and the car who had hit her bicycle parked on the street. "'You hit my car', he said. To which I said, 'No you hit my bike while I was walking on the pedestrian crossing.'" Hogenbirk said to the newspaper. An altercation followed, which Janssen joined. After a while the women decided to cut off the conversation and Hogenbirk turned to walk away. When she glanced back, she saw the man hitting Janssen in the face. Janssen collapsed. Hogenbirk rushed back to help her friend and was also attacked. The two women sustained various injuries, including torn cheeks, broken teet, bruised ribs and a concussion. Hogenbirk had to go to a plastic surgeon to get the inside of her lip stitched up. They were able to give a description of their attacker to the police: a white man somewhere in his twenties or thirties. He has a small gap between his teeth, short brown hair with shaved sides and the top neatly gelled. They hope their call for witnesses on Facebook will also help find this man.