Teen girl, elderly man hurt by person in passing car in Noord-Holland village

A 15-year-old girl and a 72-year-old man were both injured in separate incidents involving a passing car in the Noord-Holland village of Barsingerhorn over the weekend.

The teenage girl was cycling on Heerenweg at around 7:10 p.m. on Saturday when a small passenger car approached her from the opposite direction. As the car drove past her, she was stabbed in the arm with a sharp object, according to the police. The car drove off.

On Sunday afternoon the elderly man was walking near the Oude Raadhuis when a car approached him from the opposite direction. As the car passed him, he felt a blow to his face. The victim did not sustain any serious injuries, but his glasses were damaged. "Further investigation must show how the injury happened and whether the passing car was involved in this", the police said in a statement.

These two incidents are also similar to three separate incidents in Noord-Holland in November last year. An 18-year-old woman was hit by a car and then stabbed in Egmond aan den Hoef. And an 18-year-old cyclist and a 52-year-old jogger were hit by a car and stabbed in Castricum.

The police are investigating whether the two incidents in Barsingerhorn are linked. "The police understand that a link is being made with the incidents in Castricum and Egmond aan den Hoef last November. At the moment we are still dealing with the cases in Barsingerhorn as separate incidents, but of course the investigators are looking at similarities."