Dentist talks about narrow escape
Centurion dentist felt close to death when he was hijacked in the past week.
A Centurion dentist narrowly escaped with his life when he was hijacked in the past week.
“I imagined my brains being blown away,” Dr Rickes Putter told Rekord.
He said his big fear was that the gun would go off while one of the hijackers was speeding through the ditches.
The second one was holding a firearm to his head.
Putter was on his way home around 17:00 last Thursday when things went awry.
He was in his car outside his rooms in Wierda Park around 5pm when another vehicle came around the corner.
Neighbours heard the sound of screeching tyres.
Bets Makkink, a retired clerk in the homicide division of the police, said she also heard the sound of a firearm being cocked.
“For this reason, my son peeped through the window and saw one of the hijackers getting into the doctor’s car.”
Makkink said the car took off, followed by the doctor’s with him inside.
She notified the emergency Zello-App.
Putter used a small flashlight on his key ring to try and alert passing motorists to his plight.
A firearm was used to push his head down in the back sea of his car while the other hijackers were racing through the streets of Centurion.
Putter said his cellphone rang at some point.
“My phone was connected to the car’s Bluetooth and the driver instructed me to answer.”
It was a friend, who asked him in Afrikaans whether he was fine. The friend said he was aware of the hijacking and abduction, said Putter.
“Although the hijackers shouted at me afterwards wanting to know what my friend has said, it was a relief to learn that people were aware of my plight.”
He said after some more speeding, the hijackers stopped somewhere in a street.
“There were about 15 men. Both the driver and his friend got out while another man kept holding me at gunpoint.”
The two masked hijackers returned and drove off again with Putter in the car.
They stopped again to bundle him into a smaller car in view of the public.
“I remember a lot of people were watching,” said the dentist.
The hijackers stopped shortly afterwards.
“They shoved me out the car and told me to run. I didn’t think twice. I ran, because my life depended on it,” said Putter.
“One of the hijackers fired two shots. I am not sure it they shot up into the air or if they were shooting at me. I am not sure.”
Putter said he saw a ditch and decided to hide.
“I laid there for a very long time until I felt it could be safe to get up.”
He said he walked until he saw the sign of a hospital at the T-junction of WF Nkomu and Skurweberg streets.
“While I was walking, I realised I still have my little torch attached to a key ring. I tried flashing it to the two police vehicles who drove by.”
Putter was relieved when a vehicle that drove behind the police stopped to help him.
“The man who gave me a ride to the police station was is a panel beater who just came from work.”
Putter said when he got to the police station in Atteridgeville, a women posted their arrival on Facebook.
“The captain who took my case, was about to go off duty, but he stayed to take my statement. He even borrowed me his phone to make some calls.”
CPF-members and the security firm Cop Watch soon arrived.
Putter said he never would have expected so much help from strangers.
“These people do this every day for a lot of strangers. I don’t know how everything would have played out if tannie Bets and her son were not so alert.”
Putter’s wife, Wiki, also a doctor, thanked residents for saving her husband’s life.
Wierdabrug police spokesperson Tumisang Moloto said a hijacking docket had been opened and the police were investigating.
No arrests had been made by Tuesday.
Also read:
Spa left reeling after hijacking drama
Toddler found unharmed after hijack kidnapping
Police official killed during hijack
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