An unsuspecting Good Samaritan stopped to lend a helping hand to someone who seemed to be in need of assistance, however, the helper ended up needing help after being hijacked by the very person he stopped to aid.
The criminal had an accomplice who was hiding by the roadside.
“That was recently on the R114 [Old Muldersdrift Road] after a suspect, waving his hands, had allegedly thrown himself in front of an oncoming car, pretending to be in urgent need of help,” said Diepsloot Police Station’s spokesperson, Warrant Officer Daniel Mavimbela.
He warned motorists to desist from stopping for strangers pretending to be in need of assistance. He added that in some instances, the suspects force victims to surrender their ATM pins before making withdrawals.
He added that a team of police officers from Diepsloot and officials from the Department of Community Safety were dispatched to Johannesburg North to warn victims about the criminals’ trickery.
“The crime awareness campaigns were conducted at crime hotspots such as Ext 5, Ext 6, Ext 7, R114 and the Diepsloot N14 on- and off-ramps. It has to be said that although carjackings are within control in the Diepsloot area, a single carjacking is viewed as one too many. The police will not wait until such incidents spiral out of control, hence the initiatives,” said Mavimbela.
He singled out the N14 Hartebeesport off-ramp from Pretoria as a crime hotspot which he said was being constantly monitored by crime prevention and sector vans.
“The community patrollers are also doing a great job with their visibility at the corner of R511 and the N14 intersection. We need the motorists to refrain from placing belongings on their car seats,” said the acting station commander of Diepsloot Police Station, Colonel Koena Moichela.
Mavimbela also revealed that local tuck shops were easy targets for armed robberies.
“According to police crime analysis, upon entering a targeted shop, two or three would-be-robbers act as if they are comparing items on the shelves. At the suitable moment, the suspects pounce on shopkeepers and demand cash and other items,” concluded Mavimbela.
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