Two arrested after Witpoortjie car chase
Two suspects were arrested after trying to speed away from the Western Suburbs Roodepoort Neighbourhood Watch and crashing a hijacked vehicle.
The neighbourhood watch was alerted of an armed hijacking that took place on Elsenburg Street just after 9 pm on Friday 21 November. Two suspects hijacked a white VW Polo, WSRNW spokesperson Matthys van Rensburg said.
“A young man drove to his girlfriend’s address in Elsenburg Street to drop her off at home when three suspects approached them and yanked them out of the vehicle,” Van Rensburg said.
“The young man was hit on the head with a weapon.”
The suspects sped off in the hijacked vehicle on Trezona Avenue towards Albertina Sisulu Road (previously Main Reef) and WSRNW patrollers gave chase.
“They sped at around 160km/h and we contemplated whether they will be turning left or right on Albertina Sisulu Road, but instead they crossed it,” Van Rensburg said.
The suspects’ only other option was to turn left or right on Boshoff Street, the last turn before the railway line. The driver allegedly realised he was trapped and didn’t turn, but tried to stop the vehicle — it was too late. The VW Polo became airborne and landed on the second set of railway tracks.
While one suspect exited the vehicle and escaped the scene, another tried to flee but was caught and arrested. The vehicle was written off and the third suspect, the driver, was stuck under the steering wheel.
“The driver of the hijacked vehicle was apparently left paralysed,” Van Rensburg said.
The driver has allegedly since passed away, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The two arrested suspects were stabilised on scene by ER 24 paramedics and were taken to Leratong hospital under police guard.
The VW Polo was written off. Two suspects were arrested at the accident scene and a weapon was recovered on the scene.
“The Saps K9 Unit assisted us on the scene, the Roodepoort police were not involved, and the Saps forensics unit investigated the scene afterwards” Van Rensburg said.A weapon was recovered on the scene, believed to be the one the young man was hit with. After the accident on the railway, trains had to temporarily be stopped in order to fix the railway lines.
“We only left the scene at around 2 am,” Van Rensburg said, adding that “This was a major success for WSRNW.”
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• Two hijacking incidents in Witpoortjie
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