A Hanover Park man who refused to pay his taxi fare has been arrested after he threatened the taxi driver with a firearm.
According to a report from Philippi police, the 28-year-old man along with another commuter boarded a taxi at a shopping mall in Ottery on Monday 16 January at 19:30. The taxi was travelling towards Hanover Park.
Police spokesperson Captain Lance Goliath says during the trip the taxi driver stopped to put the two men out of his taxi as they refused to pay the fare.
He says the 28-year-old man revealed a firearm and pointed it towards the driver.
“The taxi driver quickly went on the defence and managed to disarm the 28-year-old male suspect. The suspect then fled in the direction of McDonalds in Ottery. The taxi driver gave chase and caught the suspect who in turn tried grabbing the firearm back from the taxi driver and in the struggle wounded himself in his ankle. Assisted by a local security company, the taxi driver managed to keep the suspect under guard until police arrived.”
Goliath says police seized the 9mm Vector pistol with ammunition and a magazine and arrested the man. The serial number of the firearm was filed off and the suspect was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.
Goliath says during the investigation, officers discovered the suspect was wanted for questioning in a murder case in Hanover Park where a 43-year-old man was killed in Athburg Walk.
He is expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday 19 January.
