A crime and hijacking spree that stretched from Plettenberg Bay to Thornhill and Port Elizabeth left one man dead and two people injured today, 31 July.
According to a statement from SAP media spokesperson, Sgt Majola Nkohli, one of the two suspected hijackers was arrested in the early hours this morning after checking himself into hospital for a gunshot wound – the same hospital where two of his alleged victims were being treated!
The crime spree began when two armed suspects allegedly hijacked a couple in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape just before midnight last night. A man and his girlfriend had stopped at a garage in the town to drop off a passenger before making their way to George.
The two men accosted the driver and pointed a firearm at him. The armed man then allegedly got into the driver’s seat while the other suspected hijacker climbed into the car. The driver made a U-turn and headed in the direction of PE with the couple in the car.
Near Thornhill an accident occurred after the driver alleged drove the hijacked vehicle into the back of a bakkie being towed on the N2. After this accident the suspected hijackers fled into the bushes on foot.
They made their way to a nearby tavern and asked for a lift from two men and a woman travelling in a gold Golf. The suspects allegedly offered the occupants of the Golf R200 for a lift to the Loerie area.
During the journey the suspects revealed their firearms and demanded control of the vehicle. While one of the suspects took the steering-wheel of the car, the lady in the car jumped out and started running. One of the suspects went after her and shot her in the leg, then caught her and took her back to the car.
When they arrived in Port Elizabeth one of the two male victims tried to overpower the one suspect in the car, in a bid to get control of the gun. While they were wrestling, the firearm went off and one of two shots fired caught the suspect in the shoulder.
The driver pulled over to the side of the road and fired several shots into the back of the vehicle killing the man who had tried to overpower his accomplice. Both suspected hijackers then fled the scene of the carnage.
The surviving occupants of the vehicle were transported to hospital by the police. At the hospital they were met with an unlikely sight – inside the hospital they pointed out the suspect who had hijacked them. This was allegedly the same man injured in the car while wrestling for the gun.
The suspect had gone to the same hospital as his victims and was arrested. He will appear in court.
St Francis Chronicle 