Graphic content warning: Ermelo tow truck driver survives violent roadside attack
He recalled trying to flag down motorists, but many, he said, probably mistook him for a drunk or drug addict.
ERMELO – Eben Stoltz, a tow truck driver with Ermelo Towing Services (ETS), narrowly escaped death after a violent attack while assisting a client at Suncity Ext 32, a section of Acasia on the N2 road towards Piet Retief.
Stoltz was dispatched to a breakdown call on August 26 at about midnight and, upon arrival, engaged with the client and his acquaintance.
Once the vehicle was secured for towing, three men appeared and approached the client.
The situation quickly escalated into a violent altercation and they started assaulting them.
As the client and his acquaintance fled, the assailants got onto the tow truck and rummaged through the car and allegedly stole the client’s wallet.
They then turned their sights to Stoltz, demanding his valuables.
“They pulled me from my vehicle and started beating me,” Stoltz recalled.
“I felt a sharp pain in my back and realised I had been stabbed.”
The knife blade punctured his left lung and broke off inside his body, it missed his heart by 3cm he would later learn from medical personnel.
Injured and bleeding, he managed to escape and collapsed on the roadside.
Despite his efforts to flag down passing vehicles, many ignored him and simply drove past as he lay helplessly, bleeding out.
“I was trying to wave down vehicles, but people probably mistook me for a drug addict or a drunk,” he said.
Read the complete article in the Highvelder next week.
