Police in Antwerp have arrested twelve people, including eight minors, on suspicion of looting a police car on New Year's Eve. This was reported by the Antwerp Public Prosecution Office (OM) on Monday.
Two of the suspects, boys aged fifteen and sixteen, were placed in a closed institution by a juvenile judge.
On Sunday evening, the suspects stormed a police car parked in Kiel, an area south of the city of Antwerp. A spokesman for the Public Prosecution told the news agency: “Mirrors were smashed, one of the doors was smashed, and two windows were shattered.” Belga.
She continued: “In the car, the perpetrators stole items such as bulletproof vests, batons, laptops, body cameras and a pair of handcuffs.” The police were able to recover some of the stolen items.
57 people were arrested in Antwerp over New Year's Eve. Antwerp Mayor Bart de Wever described the large number of incidents as a “bad tradition.”
Against the Flemish broadcaster VRT This reprehensible behavior “not only affected respected local residents, but was also specifically aimed at police officers, firefighters and health care providers who did everything they could to ensure that New Year's Eve was safe and sound,” De Wever said.
