Molotov cocktails, cobras and shootings. On Saturday night, coffee shop Caza was the target of an attack for the tenth time. It is the tenth attack in three years at the coffee shop on the Gasthuisring in Tilburg and that worries the municipality: “We just can’t find out who or what is behind it and that leads to annoyance.” This all happened in the last three years.
The trouble started about three years ago. On March 10, 2022, coffee shop Caza was shot at for the first time. No one was injured in the shooting.
On October 27, 2022, a hand grenade was found in front of the door of the building. Mayor Theo Weterings closed the coffee shop the next day for three months. The hand grenade did not go off, but according to Weterings, public order and safety was so compromised that the municipality had to take action.
Through the eye of the needle
When the coffee shop just opened again after three months, it happened again. On the night of February 18, 2023, Caza was startled by a bang. The explosion was probably caused by the police by igniting a flammable liquid. A small fire then broke out which was quickly extinguished.
There were no injuries, but that didn’t matter much. A cyclist crawled through the eye of the needle. Just after he cycled past the business, the enormous explosion followed. This was seen on surveillance images. ‘
Watch our video about the attacks at coffee shop Caza here:
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The mayor called it ‘once again a serious incident’ and therefore, in consultation with the owner, closed the coffee shop for three months. The owner extended this by four months and, in consultation with the municipality, provided a security guard, who the coffee shop must pay for himself.
Hit twice in one week
The shop had been open again for a while, when things went wrong again in December 2023. On Thursday, December 14, just before midnight, two men threw a fireworks bomb and jerry can at the coffee shop, but no explosion followed. Caza then remained closed for a week on its own initiative.
A few days later, on Sunday December 17 between two and half past two in the morning, another attempt was made to start a fire. A bottle containing flammable liquid with cobras stuck to it failed to explode.
Police shared a photo of the man who stuck the explosive on a window of the coffee shop. Customers in the coffee shop were able to follow exactly what was happening outside via security cameras and then ran outside to chase the man. They couldn’t catch him because a getaway car was already waiting.
Court case
The shop remained voluntarily closed until January 1, 2024. But on January 2, Weterings decided to close Caza again for three months. The coffee shop owner thought this was unreasonable, because he hired security himself. He hires a lawyer to prevent the closure.
The Breda court rules that the coffee shop can open its doors again. The security guard must stay, because ‘the threat of a new attack remains present’. After all, no one has been arrested yet. The coffee shop owner thinks of the building owner, but according to the police the perpetrator could come from several sources.
Molotov cocktail, shooting
Caza can open again at the beginning of February 2024, but after a week they will immediately have to close again for five days, because the coffee shop had not arranged a security guard. Shortly afterwards the business opened again, under the watchful eye of a security guard.
But not for long, because on March 27 things went wrong again. A Molotov cocktail was thrown on the sidewalk. The incendiary bomb did not catch fire.
Three days later, on Saturday March 30, the coffee shop was shot at. The business was closed at the time. The owner must then hire security guards 24 hours a day for two weeks, Weterings determined.
From mid-April 2024, officers may carry out preventive searches around the business. The mayor announced this measure, in the so-called safety risk area, for six months.
In May 2024, the coffee shop was temporarily closed again. This time not by an attack, but after a structural inspection by the municipality and an external consultant. Caza’s building turned out to be unsafe and urgently needed to be shored up and renovated. The owner was given a week to come up with an action plan.
‘Violence should never pay’
Caza was allowed to open again in mid-November. The owner was relieved: “Violence should never pay,” he said through his lawyer.
That went well for a month and a half, but last Friday night the peace and quiet was over and an explosive was thrown at the business. This ultimately did not go off, but one of the two security guards in front of the door was hit. Weterings then closed the building again.
It remains restless at the Gasthuisring, because something burning was thrown inside again on Sunday night. A spokesperson for the municipality confirms that the coffee shop has now been attacked for the tenth time.
Final closure?
It remains unclear who is behind the attacks. In the summer of 2024, three boys aged 15, 16 and 19 confessed that they were involved in the attack on the coffee shop on March 30, 2024. But no perpetrator has yet been identified for the other attacks.
Caza is currently closed, but it is still unclear whether this is permanent. In the coming week, the local triangle – Public Prosecution Service, police and mayor – will meet again to discuss the situation around Caza.
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