Two e-hailing ambushes within five hours ended in four arrests in Gordon’s Bay in the early hours of last Thursday (21 May).

Warrant Officer Suzan Jantjies, Somerset West police spokesperson, says the first incident took place at 20:25 on Wednesday 20 May, when a 24-year-old woman requested an e-hailing service to take her home.

Two men allegedly stopped the vehicle along Old Sir Lowry’s Pass Road, forced open the vehicle’s door and got in.

Jantjies said one suspect sat on the woman’s lap and threatened her with a firearm while the other sat behind the driver, who was also threatened with a knife.

After robbing the woman of her cellphone, money and headphones, they drove around briefly before dropping the victim off.

Hours later, a Strand man’s early-morning e-hailing ride turned into a kidnapping and armed robbery when his vehicle was ambushed. Around 02:00, the 27-year-old boarded a vehicle bound for his Gordon’s Bay workplace. The driver stopped a short distance into the trip, allowing three other men to enter.

The attackers pulled a gun on the man and demanded his wallet and cash. He told them he had money at work, and they drove to his workplace. There, the man alerted security, leading to the arrest of all four by Gordon’s Bay police. The group comprised of three men aged 28, 29 and 19, and a 16-year-old boy, whom detectives of the two police stations have also linked to the Somerset West incident.

The suspects appeared in the Somerset West Magistrates’ Court on Monday (25 May) on charges of robbery with a firearm, followed by appearances in the Strand Magistrates’ Court on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery relating to the Gordon’s Bay incident.