Mental patient steals vehicle during hospital escape

The patient reportedly got into the van that already had keys inside the ignition and drove off, crashing through hospital gates, Ladysmith Gazette reported.

He drove from Tugela Ferry into Ladysmith and then on the R103 heading out of Ladysmith, towards the Colenso area. Public Safety officers were conducting speed control when their camera spotted the vehicle travelling above the speed limit.

They tried to flag down the patient to stop the vehicle but he did not. Public Safety officer L Fourie gave chase and managed to stop the speeding vehicle near Roosboom. Road Traffic Inspectorate officers also responded to scene.

When the driver was stopped he put his hands out of the vehicle and told the officers to lock him up, as he claimed to be a mental patient. The traffic officers found many syringes and hospital equipment in the vehicle.

The patient was arrested by police and a case of a stolen vehicle was reported.

This after a 21-year-old woman was arrested after she was chased and shot at by police on the N3between Harrismith and Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, in March.

According to Estcourt police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel TM Mabaso, the woman allegedly failed to pay R200 to a petrol attendant and sped off. N3 Highway Patrol officers stationed at Harrismith spotted the vehicle passing at high speed and gave chase. The officer chased the woman until the Tugela Plaza, where she smashed through the tollgates.

More police and Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) units joined in the chase. and at one stage six police and RTI vehicles were chasing the fleeing woman, who was said to have driven at more than 180km/h. She kept driving even after police had shot out her tyres.

The woman eventually stopped at a roadblock set up by police near Estcourt. The car she was driving was also reported stolen

– Caxton News Service