Durban – A suspected car thief was shot in the buttocks during a high-speed chase along the M13 on Tuesday.
Around midday, messages circulated on local neighbourhood watch groups about a group of men who tried to steal a car that was parked at a business parking lot in Gillits, in the upper Highway area.
Chairperson of the Gillits Park Neighbourhood Watch group, Jill Clark, said a staff member noticed a man behaving suspiciously in the parking lot.
“When the suspect realised that people on the premises had noticed him he quietly got back into the car he had arrived in, reversed and drove off,” Clark said.
She said upon investigation, it was found that the man had managed to open the bonnet of one of the cars parked at the premises and cut the wire to the hooter in an attempt to silence the alarm.
Clark said a staff member took down the registration plate of the suspects’ vehicle and she immediately contacted the Gillitts Park Neighbourhood Watch team, which then circulated the description to neighbourhood watch and security groups.
Blue Security tactical ambassador, Russel Lawson, said he and his partner, Sbu Mchunu, had responded to an incident at a business premises in Gillitts where a man had been seen attempting to steal a car.
“The four suspects arrived at the premises in a champagne gold Nissan Almera just before noon. Once the message was circulated, we searched the area. The car was spotted on the M13. I immediately gave chase and caught up with them under the St Johns Bridge in Pinetown, following them past the M13, N3 split. As I drove near to their vehicle and flashed at them to pull over, one of the suspects pulled out a firearm and I responded by firing two shots at the vehicle. One of the shots hit the bumper and entered through the seat, injuring a suspect in his buttocks,” Lawson said.
He said the chase ensued and they then took the Roger Sishi turn off and went into Westville central past Westville Girls’ High School.
“They then drove along St James Road, jumping red robots,” Lawson said.
Lawson said he somehow lost the suspects in Westville.
“What had happened is the suspects had turned into a local shopping centre where they drove counterflow through the security boom gates, hitting into another vehicle. The suspects were about to walk into the shopping centre in an attempt to hide by blending in with shoppers when security guards at the centre swooped on them and arrested three suspects. One suspect managed to flee the scene and remains at large,” Lawson said.
Police are investigating further.
Source: The Mercury