Friends come to the rescue for Karin and Harold after theft and fire: ‘Emotionally tough’

For Karin Siebring and Harold Imming from Emmen, last weekend was one full of extremes. While they were ready to put on a good show at the German festival Grevengrass with their sound company GD Sound, a fully loaded company van belonging to their company in Emmen was stolen, looted and later set on fire.

The damage for the two is estimated at more than 25,000 euros, says Siebring. The bus contained a sound system, lamps and two sound tables. Her voice still trembles a bit from the incident. Although incident? Last summer, burglars also made their home in the business premises on Jules Verneweg in Emmen, which then caused a loss of six thousand euros. To support the entrepreneurs, friends have started a crowdfunding campaign.

“And the weekend started so nicely,” says Siebring. After all, the festival season has started and that means work to be done for the light and sound specialists. Because Siebring and Imming cannot be present for all the jobs themselves, they also hire freelancers. Likewise for last weekend. “When we went out for dinner with friends on Friday evening and drove past our building, I proudly told about the fully loaded vans,” she says.

Saturday morning she started in a good mood, until Siebring immediately noticed that one of the vans was missing after arriving at the company building. She called the hired self-employed people if they had set off extra early, but they knew nothing. “When the realization dawned that the van had been stolen, Harold completely freaked out. And to make matters worse, we couldn’t read the camera images due to a technical problem.”

But as luck by accident, Siebring received a message from a possible witness. He had seen a suspicious situation in the Angelslo district involving the stolen van and was able to provide good descriptions of the perpetrators. “But I am not happy with the contact with the police,” says Siebring. “We didn’t think there was a priority to quickly deal with the theft. We were able to provide new information continuously through our network, but it was already too late for our company van,” she sighs.

With this, Siebring refers to the fact that the bus was found empty on Saturday afternoon along the forest on the Tweede Groenedijk near Emmer-Compascuum. “By then it was too late,” she says. “The number plates had been removed and we calculated that we had more than 25,000 euros in damage as a result. Apart from the bus itself, by the way, but that it had been lost was emotionally difficult. It belonged to ex-colleague Rieks Platje and he is no longer alive. Seeing the images of the bus on fire is therefore extra painful.”

Police said in a statement that an investigation into the arson was underway. No statements have been made about possible suspects. However, the police are calling on witnesses to report if they have seen something suspicious, which may help the investigation further.

While Siebring and Harold are in sackcloth and ashes, friends and colleagues lend a helping hand by starting a crowdfunding campaign. “So sweet,” says Siebring. She understands that there are people who say: go to the insurance company. “But unfortunately we can’t claim that much. You don’t want to know how difficult it was for a small sound company like ours to keep its head above water after the corona period,” she explains.

At Grevengrass it was even announced that Siebring and Imming had fallen victim to theft, after which the hat was passed around and 1500 euros was spontaneously collected. Siebring is almost emotional about how much people sympathize with them. “After such a theft you become extremely demotivated, but after such a fundraising campaign you get a little hope again. It is such a wonderful gesture.” And there is also a storm online. Around noon on Whit Monday, more than ten thousand euros had already been collected.

Siebring and Imming prefer to hope that the money is not needed at all. “Because that means that the stolen items have been found again. If that is the case, we will organize a benefit concert for a good cause. But all the money that people donate to us selflessly, that feels so heartwarming. It is donated by people with the heart in the right place. We also like to have others, but now we are being helped. That offers a little hope.”

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