WATCH: Stolen car used in two hijackings
A silver Peugeot which was hijacked at Short Place was allegedly used in two other hijackings. One incident involved a three-year-old boy.
POLICE have warned motorists to be alert and vigilant after at least four hijackings have taken place in and around Pinetown within a week. A silver Peugeot which was hijacked at Short Place (off Garden Crescent near New Germany tennis courts) on Sunday , 8 January was allegedly used in two other hijackings.
The second hijacking unfolded at the corner of Umdoni and Harborth Roads just minutes later. Two armed suspects targeted a woman and her three-year-old son. Then, on Monday, a video surfaced on social media with the same car being used in another hijacking in Wyebank.
The owner of the Peugeot, Julie Gottschalk said she and her fiancé were accosted outside the tennis court by four men. The couple planned to put up a net they had made.
“One of them had a gun and forced us to our knees and demanded our car keys and cellphones,”
Traumatised, Julie said they had nothing on them except the tennis equipment.
“They threatened to shoot us if we were lying and my fiancé stood up in front of me to protect me. The next thing we knew, they were walking to our car and drove away,” she said.
Julie said she was devastated to learn that her car was being used in other hijackings.
“The second victim had her baby with her when she was hijacked. I can’t imagine how she is feeling. These incidents have really made me jumpy and scared. I have seen the Wyebank video and the car still has my registration number, NU 142-309,” she said.
Capt Bongumusa Manqele, Pinetown SAPS spokeman, confirmed the hijackings and said it is alleged the men used the Peugeot to hijack another car, a Hyundai i10 at the Umdoni /Harborth stop street. Manqele confirmed that the woman was driving home with her son when she saw the silver Peugeot following her.
“She tried to lose them but the car pulled out in front of her and two men came to her door and pointed a gun at her. The woman unlocked the doors and they pulled her out. She managed to get her son out of the car,” Manqele said.
In separate incident, on Thursday, 5 January, an elderly man was hijacked outside a church in Pinetown.
“According to the information we received, an elderly man was working in the church driveway when he felt a blow to his head. He turned and saw a man carrying a gun, just before he fell to the ground. Two men took his car, a silver Mercedes Benz and drove towards Gordon Road. The man was taken to hospital,” he said.
No one has been arrested in all these incidents and cases of hijackings were opened at Pinetown SAPS.
