Pawn shop owner dies in crash

Bizarre twist as men empty safe after death

HOURS after a Port Elizabeth pawn shop owner was killed in an accident on the M4 early on Saturday, men claiming to be collecting money he owed them arrived at his Sidwell store and allegedly emptied out the safe.

Don Mildenhall, 35, was killed at about 1.30am when his vehicle, a Nissan Skyline GT-R, overturned near the North End Prison.

Two passengers were injured.

Police sources said men, claiming that Mildenhall owed them money, arrived at his well-secured Don’s Pawnshop in Commercial Road hours after his death to collect money.

Despite store personnel calling the police, the men allegedly continued to empty the safe.

A witness to the accident, who asked not to be named, said he was driving home on the M4 when he saw it happen.

“About 500m before the speed camera on that road, I saw this car coming up behind me at high speed,” he said.

“The car passed me on the right and swerved over to the left-hand lane. It was going really fast.

“The road turns right after the speed camera. The car was going so fast the driver just [seemed] to lose control.

“The vehicle mounted the kerb, hit the left bank and flipped over before sliding back onto the road for about 200m.

“By the time we reached the car, one passenger was out. He was clearly in shock.

“We stopped and he told us to call the police. He said the driver was ‘Don from the pawn shop’.

“We tried [to phone the police], but we got a recording that an operator will be with us. Then the line went dead.

“Eventually, someone from Precision Tow-in showed up and called the paramedics and the police,” the witness said.

One passenger, Rough Cut Productions owner Rowan November said on Facebook he was lucky to escape with injuries.

He said he did not want to discuss what happened any further without the Mildenhall family’s consent, but revealed that the vehicle rolled after it hit a pavement.

“Lord, thank you for having me live another day – you have your reason why I survived this brutal accident,” November wrote on Facebook.

“You [have] taken a friend, father, uncle away in this accident, but Lord please be with the family of Don throughout this time.”

Officials had to close the road to deal with the accident as November had to be cut from the car with the jaws of life.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said she could only confirm there was an incident at Mildenhall’s shop hours after his death.

“The police were called out but no case was opened, so we have no details,” she said.

In November, Mildenhall posted pictures of himself and a Nissan Skyline GT-R on Facebook. The latest models cost up to R1.4-million.

Mildenhall was married to Mellissa and the couple have two children.

In 2014, Mildenhall was fined R40 000 after pleading guilty to buying a stolen iPad and then trying to burn it in an attempt to destroy evidence.