It was quite a shock for Thomas Schute, owner of the Schute jeweler in Rosmalen. During the night from Monday to Tuesday, ram raiders tried to blow up a side window of his shop with a cobra. That failed. “I’m not going to let this get me down.”
Schute was at his bedside in no time last night after the alarm went off in his business. “Two young men thought they could shop with us at night,” he says. “I immediately drove to the store with my wife and 3-year-old daughter. On the way we looked at the camera images and saw that they had left.”
Once we arrived at the store, the damage appeared to be extensive. A side window in particular suffered the brunt. “They stuck a cobra on this. Thanks to the thick, bulletproof glass, they couldn’t get through.” After the explosion, the smoke machine in the building was activated. The perpetrators fled and did not take anything.
Schute has an idea what the attempted burglary is related to. “The gold price is currently very high. Burglars think they can make a quick move here, but nine times out of ten they come home from a rude awakening. The gold and customers’ belongings are safely in the safe, so they cannot access them.”
Jeweler Schute has been in Rosmalen for forty years. There has been a ram raid before. “It also failed then,” says Schute. “They try, but it helps them little to nothing. And we are left with the damage.”
The owner is not discouraged by the event. “It’s not part of the job, but you know it can happen. I’d rather they try it at night than during the day when we’re there ourselves. I won’t let that put me off. A new, sturdy window will be installed and they won’t get in next time either. We try to deal with it quickly and forget about it.”