A local truck driver (53) endured a terrifying ordeal when he was hijacked by fake police officers along the R501 between Potchefstroom and Welverdiend on the morning of Monday, July 29.

According to a reliable source, the driver was operating a JCM truck loaded with geysers and copper pipes and was near Viva Bedding at around 10:00 when he noticed a double-cab bakkie with a blue light flashing behind him.

Believing it to be law enforcement, the driver pulled over. One of the men from the bakkie approached and asked for his driver’s license. Before he could respond, the impersonator pulled the truck’s key from the ignition.

The man and two accomplices then forced the driver into the passenger seat, tied his hands with cable ties, and drove off with him inside the truck. He was eventually dropped near Blybank, where he managed to walk to the Carletonville Police Station to report the incident.

Quick thinking and tracking lead to arrest

The truck’s satellite tracking company contacted a member of the police’s District Operational Command Center (DOCC) at around 13:30, shortly after the truck was found abandoned along the Blybank road.

When the company provided the route history of the hijacked truck, police followed the data to a house in Blybank, where one suspect (45) was arrested.

He has since appeared in the Oberholzer Magistrate’s Court on charges of hijacking and kidnapping. His two accomplices remain at large, and the investigation is ongoing.