For jeweler Joost van der Heijden, the robbery on his business looks like a film. The thieves entered Pijnenburg jewelers through the construction site near the neighbors. In the building in Eindhoven there is a hole in the thick and secure wall of the jeweler ‘just’. “They must have drilled here for some time,” the jeweler notes soberly.
“Bizarre! That wall is almost a meter thick. The hole is sixty to seventy centimeters wide,” says the 48-year-old jeweler still. A deep hole, shards and fallen seats are the silent witnesses in the business on the Demer in the center of Eindhoven.
The perpetrators can be seen on camera images. The jeweler does not want to share them for the time being. Omroep Brabant was allowed to view them. Two men with hoods can be seen on the surveillance images. It is dark and the fog cannons go off. They shine with their phone lights. In a short time they hit four showcases short and small. “After a few seconds they had to leave again.”
The building next to the jeweler is being completely renovated. “There have been demolition work for months. It is not strange that minced meat or drilling has been done. I could never have imagined that they could have made a hole in the wall,” says Joost shaking his head. He emphasizes to have followed all protocols and security measures. “You don’t make such a hole in an hour, I think.”
“They have been able to break four showcases. Because of the alarm system they have been able to make relatively little loot,” says Joost. How great the damage is? “I estimate 2.5 to 3 tons from the wrist. That is a lot, but it is not so bad for what is there.”
By telling his story, he mainly wants to reassure his customers. “Only stock items are gone. Nobody needs to worry about their repairs, watches or jewelry away. They are all safely stored,” emphasizes Joost. Yet he is very disappointed. “You don’t just have jewelery that we have made ourselves.”
“I am still full of adrenaline here. It is really a blow,” sighs Joost’s head shaking. “It is terrible if this happens to you. You come in your business in the morning and everything is upset. I am full of frustration, anger and sorrow!”
The perpetrators were already gone when the police arrived. Agents have still searched in the area, but no longer found the perpetrators.
In 2009 and 2011, Jeweler Pijnenburg was the victim of a robbery. At the robbery in 2009, an employee was injured in his head. He got a blow with a gun. The three perpetrators from Amsterdam all were sentenced to four years in prison. For the robbery in 2011, the three perpetrators were sentenced to six years in prison. “I’m not afraid. The anger remains,” says Joost, who has been in the case for at least 25 years.
When the police investigation is completed on Saturday, the jeweler wants to clean up everything and open again as soon as possible. “I hope the perpetrators will be arrested quickly and that they will be in prison.”