Cop tells of dramatic chase
2003-08-08 16:40
Pretoria - On Wednesday night Inspector Louis van Deventer, of the Pretoria Dog Unit, became an instant hero when he saved a woman from the men who had hijacked her car.
Ask hijacking victim, 24-year-old Annemarie Mostert of Kilnerpark in Pretoria, and she is likely to concur. She'd probably describe Inspector Deventer as an angel who was sent from heaven to save her.
Mostert was on her way home alone from bible study when hijackers jumped her, and pointed a pistol at her on the corner of CR Swart and Soutpansberg Drive.
She tried to drive off, but her Volkswagen Golf stalled and she was forced to unlock it. The hijackers ordered her to lie flat on the back seat while they raced through the streets of Pretoria's suburbs, keeping a pistol to her head.
Little did she know that Inspector van Deventer would be on duty that day - with his canine partner, Breuker.
In fact, had it not been Breuker's need for a walk and to relief himself, Inspector van Deventer might have missed the hijackers.
That was all that was in it.
He told News24 that he had parked on the side of the road to allow Breuker to do his thing when suddenly two cars - a red Opel and a green Volkswagen Golf - driving towards him made a sudden u-turn.
It was around 22:00 in the evening, and that, he said was suspect.
Inspector van Deventer and Breuker jumped into their marked police car and followed the hijackers.
He said the hijackers were by now driving very recklessly and jumped a few robots. "The hijackers must have suspected I was onto them," Inspector van Deventer told News24.
He said that they drove through Brooklyn and Silverton and then to Eersterust.
Having been in the police force for 13 years, however, experience taught him not to panic.
With one hand on the wheel, his eyes transfixed on the suspects, he contacted his colleagues for back-up.
To this day Inspector van Deventer doesn't know why he followed the hijacked car - it was "just a hunch," but it was in that car that the victim was praying aloud and asking God to take control of the situation.
Mostert's ordeal came to an end when the hijacker driving her car crashed it into a stationary car and the suspects were apprehended by Deventer and his colleagues.
When contacted by News24 on Friday afternoon, Inspector van Deventer was again out in the streets.
And despite praise being heaped on him and other officers for apprehending the culprits, he humbly told News24 that he is "committed" to the police force and that he loves his job.
Deventer said he was just "happy that she (Mostert) is okay."
- News24