Family speaks out after attempted hijacking ordeal

Following a high-speed chase that led to the arrest of three robbers on August 15, a family was also the victim of an attempted hijacking by one of the robbers who tried to flee from the police.

That day, police patrollers received a tip-off at about 12:45 of four robbers allegedly committing an armed robbery near a supermarket in Monument. This would result in a car chase along Voortrekker Road which led police to Simon Bekker Street in Rangeview.

Lieutenant Colonel Senne Mogotlane confirmed at the time that the alleged robbers shot at the police vehicle which led to it crashing near a complex on Simon Bekker Street.

• Also read: Monument armed robbery: High speed chase leads to three arrests

“The perpetrators opened fire at the police vehicle which led to the crash, however, two more police vehicles gave chase and followed the perpetrators who eventually jumped out of their vehicle. They then jumped over an electric fence and hid inside a residential home only to be caught and ultimately arrested. We also confiscated their weapons from them as two of them were still armed. They had revolvers in their possession which will be collected by forensics,” Mogotlane said.

Moments before the alleged robbers were arrested, one tried to hijack a family at another complex nearby.

It was just a normal afternoon for the *Rogers family as *Peter came to pick up his mother-in-law and niece, but as he was about to help them carry their luggage to the car, a man came running towards them threatening Pieter with a gun, demanding he hands over the car keys. Peter acted quickly and threw the keys over the wall and made sure that the suspect would not take his car. The incident occurred in less than a minute, however, the suspect threatened to shoot but fled the scene to escape.

Despite being put in so much danger, Peter said that he was unfazed.

“I was not stressed. The whole thing happened so quickly, I am not fearful, but I will certainly be more vigilant in similar situations in the future.”

Despite being left unharmed throughout the incident, Peter hopes that the complex will look at the incident and ensure that more safety and security measures are put in place to ensure that an incident like this can never happen again.

“They certainly need to look at why the gate was able to be re-opened after we drove in, and possibly make some changes to ensure that it’s more secure in the future.”

Despite the incident putting him and his family under threat, Peter was pleased with the police dealing with the alleged robbers and is grateful to have been unharmed.

“The police were heavily involved in arresting the members of the gang, and considering the prevalence of serious crimes, we are certainly all very grateful!

*Pseudonyms