Last Sunday evening (5 February), at approximately 21:00, a traffic officer heading home to Strand spotted the driver of a white Ford Ranger with a firearm in his hand.
Shortly afterwards a motorist stopped to tell the officer an armed man had tried to hijack them. This confirmed the officer’s suspicions and he called for back-up. Other traffic officers arrived, closed the roads to keep motorists out of harm’s way and went in pursuit of the suspect.
A chase soon ensued, during which the suspect tried to dispose of the firearm and hit another vehicle in a vain attempt to evade the officers. In time the chase came to an end and the suspect was arrested.
“I commend the swift action of the traffic officers involved, for it likely saved lives,” Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, said. “I hope the criminal justice system deals swiftly with this case and hands the toughest sentence possible down.”
A couple of hours after this incident occurred another vehicle (a white Toyota Corolla) that had also been hijacked earlier in Kleinvlei was stopped at Broadlands Park on Monday (6 February) at 07:30. According to Heyns de Waal, Chief Operating Officer of Gordon’s Bay Security (GBSec), his personnel spotted the stolen vehicle and managed to stop it.
“One suspected hijacker was detained and handed over to the police,” he said.
