Customers save Sliedrecht shopkeeper from aggressive teenagers | Dordrecht

Van Mourik was busy at his shop on the Kerkbuurt where there were many customers. Meanwhile, a contractor is renovating the shop, but the workers are on vacation. Suddenly I heard a lot of noise on the roof, so it couldn’t be a good thing,” he says.

He was vigilant as there has been regular harassment from young people lately. They climb behind his shop over the fence to a Hema fire gate, where they have a clear path to the roof via the fire escape. From there they easily climb to the roof of Van Mourik: ,,But they also jump a one and a half meter alley to the neighbors. For the same money they fall almost 10 meters deep”. He is especially angry because he doesn’t know what they are doing. “There are solar panels on those roofs, which are fragile things, and before you know it, you’re leaking.”

When he captured the four 15- to 19-year-olds on Tuesday, he decided to film them, if only to show the footage to the local police officer. She didn’t do well. In less than no time the young people went downstairs, climbed over the fence of his site and slammed him to the ground: I could only open the door of my shop and call for help. Some customers have come to this. They grabbed those kids and held them until the police arrived.”

As the worst part of the shock slowly subsided, the young men walked past him after being questioned by the police. The hoods were still pulled up over the heads because of the crowd, but shortly thereafter the middle finger went up. Van Mourik learned from the police that they were sent home with fines of €250 each for rowdy behaviour. “There is no evidence for anything else. In my pictures I’m standing on the roof, nothing more, and I also didn’t see who was doing what when they attacked me. At least now they have that fine.”

He is already thinking about installing very high fences and security cameras: ,,I fear my windows will soon break.”