An attempted hijacking led to a shootout at A and J Autoworld on Thursday (17 July).
According to owner Johan van Rensburg and his son JP, at around 10.25am a white BMW 3 Series with five men drove into the parking lot, blocking a brand-new Audi A5 in a parking bay. Two of the men proceeded to get out of the car and pulled the Audi driver out of his vehicle. One of the suspects got into the vehicle and tried to start it, but couldn’t find the keys.
“I suspected something strange was happening when the BMW was reversed into our parking lot, which is not normal for our clients to do,” says JP.
“At that point I ran into the workshop and got my pistol.
“When I ran back and shouted at the suspects, they started shooting at me,” says JP.
According to him they all were dressed in dark clothing and had masks and beanies on.
“I shot back at them and they started running and hid behind other cars in parking lot.
“It was all over in about two minutes. They fired final shots and the BMW took off.”
The BMW drove towards the filling station down the road; the suspects ran after it, got in and drove off.
“I shot several rounds and I’m not sure whether I injured them or not, it all happened too fast.”
JP believe his shots hit the BMW twice.
Both father and son stated to the police on scene that this was not the first attempted hijacking at their workshop, referring to an incident about three months ago.
“In fact, I believe one or two of these suspects were involved in the previous incident,” says JP. “Last time they came in a Kia but also were after an Audi.”
Both policemen on scene and Johan believe that the Audi was followed from the dealership. They believe the same of the previous incident.
JP also told the police that he believes the suspects got inside information from dealerships because they seem to target specific cars. According to him only the dealerships know when vehicles are delivered or moved from the lot. The police’s forensic team cordoned off the scene and dusted vehicles for fingerprints.
About three vehicles in their parking lot was damaged along with other vehicles in the neighbouring Hyundai dealership.
Hyundai dealer Theo van der Walt and his security company supplied the record with footage of the shootout.
“We are lucky to have captured it,” says Van der Walt, as the dealership had installed the cameras that captured the incident only a few weeks ago.
The Van Rensburgs opened a case of attempted hijacking with the Honeydew Police. If there is anyone with information about this incident, they are kindly requested to contact the investigating officer Simon Neluheni on 082 937 5956.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyUm815GTTk&feature=youtu.be
