Two men, aged 19 and 23, have been arrested for hijacking a car using a toy gun, and kidnapping a nine-year-old child at Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal, police said on Thursday.
Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said the criminals were apprehended the same day they hijacked the family’s car in Mooriver.
“On Wednesday at about 12:30, a 45-year-old man, his wife and two children were in their vehicle and driving along the road at Giant’s Castle in the Mooiriver area when they came across an area where the road had been blocked with rocks and tree branches,” Mbhele said.
“As the father got out of the vehicle to open the road, two men armed with a firearm, knives and a hammer accosted the family.”
Mbhele said the suspects climbed into the car and drove around with the family until late afternoon when they stopped at a garage in Lyell Street, Ladysmith.
This is where the family were able to escape from the vehicle and ran, but the nine-year-old boy was left behind.
The suspects then fled in the vehicle with the child still inside. The police and traffic officers were alerted to the incident while SA Secure broadcast the details of the vehicle to members of the public.
“A member of the public managed to keep an eye on the movements of the vehicle and police personnel from various police stations in the area, together with traffic officers and members of the public gave chase,” Mbhele said.
Mbhele said a short while later the vehicle was boxed in along the N3 at the Wagendrift turnoff at Estcourt.
Joint actions of all involved resulted in the rescue of the child, the arrest of the two suspects, and the recovery of the vehicle.
“Police discovered two knives, a hammer and a firearm which was found to be a toy-gun, inside the vehicle and the child was treated and re-united with his family,” said Mbhele.
Mbhele said the case was being investigated by Mooiriver police and the suspects were set to appear in the Mooiriver Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
-African News Agency (ANA)
