Hijackers gave a victim R30 to pay for other transport before disappearing in his Toyota Avanza.
This occurred in the week ending 15 October when seven vehicles were hijacked in Alex, all in four days.
Alex police spokesperson Captain Allie Kodisang said the victim of 12th Avenue claimed he was hijacked at about 9pm on 12 October next to Boxer supermarket in 1st Avenue. He had stopped behind another vehicle when an armed suspect apparently approached on the driver’s side and ordered him to the back seat. He complied and two other suspects entered the vehicle which the armed suspect drove away.
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They ordered the victim to lie face down and demanded his money. He handed over R200 and they gave him back R30 and dropped him off near a road sign that read Soweto and Riverlea. He walked to Langlaagte Police Station to report the incident and was then taken to the Alex Police Station where a case was opened. He said his vehicle was equipped with a tracker and valued at R120 000. It hadn’t been found at the time of going to press.
In another hijacking incident, a victim from Kempton Park claimed he was hijacked at about 7.30pm on 9 October at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Vincent Tshabalala Road. The victim apparently stopped to ask two men for directions to the Alex clinic but they forced themselves into his Opel Corsa and pointed a gun at him. They ordered him to drive further into Alex and dropped him in Phase 1 before driving off in the vehicle. In the car, there were documents for another vehicle and two cellphones.
On 10 October, a mechanic claimed he was hijacked when driving a customer’s BMW on 3rd Street, Wynberg at about 11am. The victim said he had just parked the vehicle at a BMW workshop when an armed suspect approached and demanded the vehicle. The shocked victim dropped the keys inside the vehicle and jumped out. The suspect shouted at the victim for the keys and when he was told they were inside the vehicle, he got in and drove off.
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The victim was apparently told later by a pedestrian that the suspect had shot at another motorist down the street, minutes before.
On 11 October, a Mazda worth R280 000 and equipped with a tracker was apparently hijacked while parked on a street at about 9.30pm in Far East Bank. A bakkie stopped behind the vehicle and two armed suspects approached the occupants, the driver and his girlfriend, and forced them to the back seat. The victim pleaded with the hijackers to let his girlfriend go which they did. They dropped him off at the intersection of 18th and Florence Mophosho avenues. Inside the vehicle were a laptop, handbag and wallet with bank cards.
On 12 October, a man claimed he was hijacked of his Nissan Murano at about 5pm after stopping to drop someone off at the Vincent Tshabalala off-ramp from the N3 freeway. Two armed suspects forced him out of the vehicle and drove away into to the busy traffic. Inside the vehicle were his laptop valued at R20 000, iPad (R4 000) and iPhone (R7 000).
The following day, a hijacking occurred at about 3.30pm on 13 October at a robot in Vincent Tshabalala Road near the N3 freeway. The victim claimed two suspects pointed a gun at him and ordered him out of his vehicle, which was not specified, and drove back towards Alex at high speed.
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The seventh hijacking occurred on 13 October at about 3.30pm when a woman claimed she was hijacked by two suspects while driving her VW Polo at the intersection of Vincent Tshabalala Road and 8th Avenue. They pointed a gun at her and forced her out of the R100 000 vehicle with her cellphone in it.
Details: Alex Police Station 011 321 7621
