Boy on fatbike attacks elderly man, bystander in Dordrecht; Police seek witnesses

The Dordrecht police are looking for a teenage boy who attacked an 80-year-old man and another passerby in Dordrecht last week. The elderly man was crossing the street with his grandchildren when the boy on the fatbike sped past him and then pushed him into the bushes. The boy also attacked a passerby who tried to help the grandfather, the police said on Facebook.

The attack occurred on the pedestrian crossing from the Stadspolder station toward the shopping center at around 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. The man and his grandchildren were walking on the zebra crossing toward the shopping center when the boy on the fatbike sped straight into them. “When the old man raised his hands in alarm, the boy on the fatbike turned around and pushed him into the bushes,” the police said.

A bystander on a scooter saw what happened and went to help the elderly man. The boy attacked him too, punching him in the face multiple times. He then fled the scene.

The police are looking for witnesses and anyone who can help them identify the boy. He is about 17 years old with dark skin and a skinny posture. At the time of the attack, he was wearing dark-colored sweatpants, a dark jacket, and a dark cap, with a white shirt and white wireless earphones. He was riding a black fatbike.

According to Rijnmond, a similar attack happened in Papendrecht a week earlier. A scooter rider attacked a 70-year-old man after he made a gesture toward the scooter rider for not following traffic rules. “He drove straight into me,” the victim told Rijnmond.

The elderly man was left injured on the street as the scooter rider fled. He called it unacceptable that a gesture can just turn into an assault. “If we accept this, where does it end?” People should be able to call each other out on their bad behavior, the man said to the broadcaster. “Because if no one says anything, nothing changes.”