Alex police are investigating the hijacking of five motor vehicles in a week. One of them was by a limping suspect pretending to need help and another by suspects who pounced on a motorist, who was dropping a sick person at home from a clinic.
Three of the hijackings occurred at notorious hijack hotspots on Vincent Tshabalala Road.
Police spokesperson Captain Allie Kodisang said the first incident involved a female motorist driving a Nissan carrying some passengers. Two suspects, one with a gun, approached them at 5.30pm on 13 April while stopped at a robot at the Vincent Tshabalala Road and 8th Avenue intersection.
The suspects allegedly banged on the windows of the locked vehicle from both sides. In shock, the driver switched off the ignition and got out with the keys which one wrestled from her. He allegedly also pulled two rings off her finger and entered the vehicle.
His accomplice forced the passengers out and took a handbag with bank cards and R90 in cash from them before casually walking away, while the other drove away in the vehicle valued at R200 000. The owner’s handbag, house keys, a camera and a cellphone were in the vehicle which hasn’t been recovered.
Three hours later a Volkswagon Golf 6, which hasn’t been recovered, was hijacked at the Vincent Tshabalala Road and Lenin Drive intersection from a victim who stopped to help a limping man.
After asking for his name, the suspect allegedly pulled out a gun and forced the victim to the passenger side before driving off with him while controlling the vehicle with one hand and the other allegedly pointing the gun at the victim.
After a short distance, the suspect stopped the vehicle, ordered the victim out and to lie face down on the ground before searching him. The suspect took the victim’s R1 500 in cash, two cellphones valued at R2 500, a gold chain worth R300 and a wrist watch valued at R2 500 before driving off in the vehicle.
The third hijacking was of a Toyota Avanza which occurred at 10pm on 13 April at the intersection of 2nd and Watt streets, Wynberg.
The victim and his girlfriend were parked on the side of the road while waiting for a client when a suspect entered the vehicle and pointed a gun at them. The driver jumped out, ran a short distance and observed the suspect drive away in his vehicle followed by a Toyota Conquest and a Nissan Livina, heading towards the Madala Hostel.
The vehicle, which hasn’t been recovered, is valued at R110 000. The victim and his girlfriend’s cellphones were in the car along with R610 in cash. It wasn’t specified what happened to the girlfriend.
The fourth incident was a Mercedes Benz hijacked from a female motorist at noon on 14 April. Two armed suspects stopped and ordered her out of the vehicle at the N3 offramp onto Vincent Tshabalala Road and drove the vehicle onto the freeway.
A stranger assisted and she reported the incident to the police who later found the car abandoned in Marlboro.
The fifth incident involved a Toyota Yaris valued at R130 000 which was hijacked at night on 16 April by three suspects as a woman was taking a sick child to her mother on 7th Avenue.
A suspect appeared as she was parking the car. At gunpoint, he ordered her to get out of the vehicle. A second suspect wielding a knife appeared and got into the driver’s seat, followed by a third who got into the vehicle before the three drove off.
One of the suspects was later arrested and is due in court soon. The vehicle hasn’t been recovered.
Details: Alex Police Station 011 431 7718/9.
