Amsterdam taxi driver arrested for driving into drag queen & partner during Pride 2023

Eight months after a taxi driver appeared to deliberately crash his car into a drag queen and her partner, police said they managed to arrest the man for the hit-and-run crash. The incident happened at the end of a closing party for Pride Amsterdam, part of the city’s long-running celebration and recognition of diverse sexualities and genders.

The two victims were looking for a cab during the early morning hours on August 7 along Vijzelstraat, a street with a taxi rank in the Amsterdam city center. When they approached one vehicle, the taxi driver refused to take the couple home, police said.

“After a discussion, the taxi allegedly drove backwards and then accelerated into the victims. When the drag queen and her partner jumped away, the car allegedly grazed her, but fortunately no one was injured,” police said in an update on Friday.

The driver, a 26-year-old Amsterdam resident, was taken into custody last month, police revealed. They did not say why the investigation carried on for so long, as they were able to determine who the suspect was based on statements from bystanders.

“He was finally arrested on April 10, 2024. After interrogating him, the suspect was released.” Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to try the man. A decision will be made at a later date.

Police said the lack of an injured person “does not alter the fact that this has had a huge impact on the victims and the queer community.” The office asked that individuals of diverse genders and sexual minorities continue to contact them when they are subjected to violence, particularly because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

“In Amsterdam you have to be able to be who you are,” police said. ” We take these kinds of things seriously.”