In Berkhout, part of the deadly robbery of Sjaak Groot is currently being reenacted. At the request of one of the suspects, the street where the beloved man who was shot and killed was closed off for a few hours for the reconstruction of the flight time and route. Dut M. from Alkmaar is allowed out of his cell.
“What’s going on here?” Asks a cycling Berkhouter from a little further in the village. Residents of Oosteinde in question have received a letter from the ‘investigating judge’. You are requested not to be present on the streetit says.
It is almost two and a half years ago, June 2021, that 72-year-old Sjaak caught a group of burglars in his house. He is shot and dies, with his phone still in his hand.
The robbery appears to be one in a series. Six more robberies are linked to a group of apparently ruthless and violent men who appear in varying compositions made many victims. After months of investigation, they are now all in custody.
But Alkmaarder Dut M. leaves the detention center for a moment tonight and is in West Friesland. After the request of his lawyers, the Noord-Holland court has decided that a reconstruction will be done.
Eight suspects, mainly from West Friesland, are said to have committed robberies in varying compositions in De Goorn, Nieuwe Niedorp, Dreumel (Gelderland), Avenhorn, Heerhugowaard, Berkhout and Noord-Scharwoude. One suspect is shortly after the robbery of Sjaak dead.
In the street and around the old house of Sjaak Groot, it is not about reenacting the actual shooting, but in particular about the position of suspect M. that he had already fled before the robbers entered the house. Because his accomplices “made too much noise.”
The Public Prosecution Service states that, based on research and looking at images of him on the run, this is technically not possible. So it is now being reenacted under the direction of the police.
‘I stay inside’
Oosteinde is closed for hours, residents will not park their cars tomorrow and there are units. Dut M.’s lawyers arrive in a car just before nine o’clock. They don’t want to respond.
“I don’t know how strict they are, but I’m not going out tonight,” says a neighbor within the closed area to NH by telephone. With fences with black cloths, Sjaak’s house is now also no longer visible beyond the cordon.
Berkhout – PRIO 1 West Friesland
The fellow Berkhouter has read in the media for the past 2.5 years what may have happened to his old acquaintance and spoke about it before with NH. “It’s all sad. I still think about him often, when I walk my dog, he always wants to go that way.”
He is curious about the outcome of the reconstruction. “I hope they find the real culprit and who is punished for it.”
Bench for Sjaak
Around a quarter past nine a blinded car comes through the gates. Whether the suspect is in there, we will never know. The cops at the cordon are tight-lipped. Around 9:30 p.m., a red light from a drone can be seen above the house.
Occasionally a curious fellow villager is peering into the street. Two boys aged ten and eleven think they know more or less what is going on. But not a man with his daughter. “Really? How intense. I remember when it had just happened. What a police force here then.”
The two are still symbolically reminded of Sjaak every day. “His bench, which used to be in his garden, is now in front of our house, in the park. It has a sign on it.” The Oosteinde is closed until at least midnight.
The lawyer of the relatives of Sjaak Groot says that they do not want to respond substantively. “But of course they are curious what will come out of the reconstruction,” says Liselotte van Gaalen. Other people now live in Sjaak’s house. They have been informed, according to the Public Prosecution Service.
A date for a substantive court hearing about the alleged robbery gang has not yet been announced.
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