Man faces community service for driving into King's Day partiers on Amsterdam canal

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended 150 hours of community service and a 500 euro fine against a 22-year-old from Zaandam. The suspect is accused of driving his car into a group of people on King's Day in Amsterdam last year. Several people were injured during the incident in that happened on the crowded Prinsengracht, one of the main canals in the city center.

The OM suspects Abdüssamed E. of two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of fleeing the scene after a vehicle crash. He is also accused of causing a traffic collision.

E. apologized for his actions in court. “I never wanted this,” he said to the woman who wound up lying on the hood of the moving car. She fell hard onto the street shortly afterward. “I was panicking,” the suspect explained, saying he had just dropped off a friend in the city center. “I had no idea that it would be that busy.”

But E. also claimed that he was assaulted in the city. “People hit my car with phones and kicked against it. I was hit, and beer was thrown over me. It got more and more out of hand. I just wanted to go home.”

The court showed footage of the incident. It shows that E. was driving at a walking pace and then accelerated. “People in front of the car did not get the chance to avoid it and were then dragged by the car,” the prosecutor said.

In addition to the aforementioned woman, a man also ended up on the hood of the car. Another woman found herself in front of the car and was forced to run backward to avoid it.

“It could have gone much worse,” the prosecutor said. “A long community service is appropriate because the suspect has to feel that his behavior was unacceptable. Even if he was annoyed and angry, this is not the way.”

The court will announce its verdict regarding the case on April 16.