Nasty surprise awaits hijackers
2007-11-13 22:33
Francois du Plessis
Johannesburg - "Fifteen-inch alloys had nothing on the size of his eyes when he saw me and the cops jump out of the car."
That's what Jacques Meiring, a Tracker vehicle-recovery company employee said, describing the shock for an alleged hijacker when he and an accomplice realised the sports utility vehicle (SUV) they had just tried to hijack contained armed police.
The two were arrested after a high-speed chase in which the hijackers first chased the SUV and then were chased by the police.
Meiring, who was with the police in the unmarked Nissan SUV, said they were en route to KaBokweni in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, when the chase began at about 18:00 on Saturday.
He and inspectors, Danie Theron and Mike Frade, attached to the dog unit and the hijacking unit respectively, had just recovered two stolen and two hijacked vehicles in Malekhutu when the alleged hijackers tried to snatch their vehicle.
'Nasty surprise'
Meiring said: "A black VW Golf cut us off and tried to push us off the road. We had to brake hard and swerve to avoid an accident."
The Golf stopped in a cloud of dust behind them, before making a second attempt to force them off the road from behind.
It then apparently sped past them and executed a handbrake "doughnut", stopping in the middle of the road.
"We jumped out of our vehicle with weapons drawn, just as the passenger got out, apparently wanting to hijack us. He jumped back into the Golf when he realised two were policemen," said Meiring.
The Golf sped off, but was stopped shortly afterwards and the two men were arrested after a struggle in which one was wounded in the arm.
Meiring said: "Our windows were tinted, so the two of them couldn't see who was in the car, but they had a nasty surprise when they realised (who we were).
"We suspect they thought we were easy targets, or tourists. It was quite hectic, and we had several near-accidents during the chase."
Police spokesperson Muzi Ngomane confirmed the incident and said the two men had appeared in court on Tuesday.
They were to face charges of hijacking, and reckless and negligent driving.
- Beeld