Him or me - says hijack victim

2008-07-29 23:13

Gloria Edwards

Johannesburg - It was him or me, said Alexi Kyriacou of Nigel on the East Rand on Tuesday after he almost shot off a hijacker's arm.

A police officer said the man's arm was hanging by a small piece of flesh.

At about 15:00 four suspected hijackers tried to hijack a truck that was delivering mageu (an energy booster) to the Kyriacou family business, the Cosmos Café.

Alexi, a manager at the café in Third Street in Vorsterskroon, and his father Chris, 61, took on the hijackers.

Alexi said: "I was in the shop and I heard someone shouting outside. My father ran in and shouted that the truck was being hijacked. We both grabbed our guns and ran outside.

"One of the men was pointing his gun at the truck driver, but my father shouted at him. He then pointed his weapon at me. We started shooting at each other," Alexi said on Tuesday.

Arm hanging by a thread

The station commander in Nigel, Superintendent Yogita Kasaven said that Alexi nearly shot off a hijacker's right arm with a 40-calibre Heckler & Kock pistol.

"The man was taken to the Heidelberg Hospital for treatment and is under arrest."

A delivery person, who was in the truck with the driver, was taken to Nigel police station for questioning.

Police are searching for three other suspects who fled with an unknown amount of money stolen from the truck driver.

- Beeld