An au pair, two children and the children’s granny narrowly managed to escape having their car hijacked while sitting in a McDonald’s drive-through in Woodmead on 21 July.
The group was sitting in their car between the pay window and the collection window when one hijacker put a gun to the au pair’s head through the open window and unlocked the doors, while a second hijacker opened the left rear door and tried to pull the granny out of the car. According to the father of the children, who wished to be named only as Jonathan, “[The granny] said take what you want, just leave the kids. [Her attacker] then saw the ring on her finger and pulled it off.”
The au pair then accelerated the car, hitting the car in front of her in the drive-through, and continued to accelerate, causing the cars in front of her to do the same. The attackers then fled to a car in the parking lot opposite the drive-through and left the scene.
Jonathan said that there was no security guard to be found and that an hour after the incident, police had still not arrived.
“My suspicion is that there is a cashier scanning cars for easy targets and has a full view of the vehicles coming through… and alerts the attackers in the parking that there is a target,” said Jonathan.
When he asked to see the security footage, he was refused until he received a case number from the police, and then he was told that the hard drive on which the security footage was had crashed and was unable to be viewed.
McDonald’s South Africa confirmed the incident at the Woodmead McDonald’s drive through and said, “The safety and security of our customers and staff are of paramount importance to us… we are prepared to work with the customer and relevant authorities to assist in their investigation.”
The Sandton Police Station was unable to comment but cautioned customers to remain vigilant while sitting in drive-throughs and if anyone acts suspiciously or attacks you, you should call the police immediately.
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