Brave motorist fends off armed hijackers…

Northam – A man travelling from Northam in the direction of Rustenburg, escaped a dangerous attack by three armed hijackers by the skin of his teeth on Tuesday 29 September.

Police spokesperson brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that the incident occurred at around 07:15, shortly after the motorist was stopped by traffic officers. At the time of going to print, it was not yet confirmed whether fake or real traffic officers were involved in the incident.

When the complainant stopped his car on the side of the road, one of the suspects approached him and requested his driver’s license. The other two suspects simultaneously approached the man from the passenger side. As he was trying to locate his license in his bag, one of the suspects allegedly tried to grab the man’s cellphone.

“One of the suspects on the passenger’s side grabbed the driver’s bag and gave it to his accomplice. The suspect on the driver's side then tried to grab the vehicle keys but failed to do so,” Mojapelo explained. The two suspects on the passenger’s side went to the rear and started removing tools from his vehicle’s loading bin.

The suspect who tried to grab his keys pulled a gun on him, upon which the complainant managed to grab his arm with his one hand, putting his vehicle in gear with the other. Trying to keep from being shot at, he did not release the tight grip he had on the arm of his attacker – and sped off.

A gunshot fired by one of the suspects narrowly missed the complainant, going through the windscreen at the passenger’s side.

“The suspects were wearing COVID-19 face masks. No arrests have been made yet and the police are still investigating the incident,” Mojapelo said.