At the theft from a shed in the outskirts of Breda, at least nineteen campers disappeared last weekend. That says owner Eric van der Meer of Staling Breda on Liesstraat. Two shovels, a boat, a trike and a jet ski have also been stolen. “I hope so it is. But we have a thousand customers and it takes quite some time to map the size of the robbery.”
According to Van der Meer, video images of people from the area show that the thieves have visited at least three times: on Saturday morning, Saturday evening and Sunday morning. “I haven’t seen the images myself yet, but that is what I have been told. My neighbors live opposite the shed and were present in the living room during one of the times. But unfortunately they have seen nothing.”
Cameras are also present at the shed where people can park their camping equipment such as supporters, caravans and campers. But the servers on which the camera images are stored have also disappeared during the theft. That makes finding the perpetrators more difficult. “We have been here for about four years now, but I have never experienced something like that. And I hope to never experience this again. I am very shocked by the theft,” says the lead owner.
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The thieves did not work gentle during the robbery. Campers that are still in the shed are damaged. Van der Meer cannot say how large the total size of the damage is. “But that will be big.” He suspects that it was mainly the perpetrators to do ‘bus cams’.
One of the victims is Johan. He received a phone call from Van der Meer on Tuesday. “He asked me if I was on the road with my camper. No, I said. Well, then I had to come soon because he was no longer there. Only the power cable was still there.”
Well -insured
Johan had his camper, who says he is worth many tens of thousands of euros, now about three years. He made six or seven trips with it, including to Portugal and Italy. “Yes, that is a hard blow. Certainly because it is not cheap. Fortunately we are well insured. But of course it is questionable what you get back for it.”
He suspects that the thieves have taken the time to choose exactly what they wanted to take with them. The shed is in a remote place, but there is a house in front of the entrance. “But those people say they didn’t get anything from the theft.”
Fifteen declarations
The police say that there are now at least fifteen declarations. “But how many exactly there are is unclear,” says a spokesperson. “It can just be more and the number of nineteen moved campers might be right.”
She cannot confirm ‘in connection with the investigation’ whether there are camera images of the perpetrators and whether they have been active both Saturday and Sunday. Earlier, the police announced that the theft would have been committed on Saturday between half past six in the morning and ten in the evening.
The police have put a number of detectives on the case. “We take this theft supereriously. It is not nothing that has disappeared. There must be good thought about that.”