Beer stolen off truck outside PE Tavern

Several cases of beer were stolen from a South African Breweries truck that was off-loading stock at a tavern in Bethelsdorp on Friday morning.

While hijackings in the Bay have spiked in recent weeks, Friday’s incident saw a gang of five men arrive in their own truck and abduct the driver before simply off-loading more than 20 cases of beer.

Over the past four weeks about 15 delivery trucks have been hijacked in the Bay. Between all the hijackings an assortment of stock including food, chips, alcohol, pots and pans were stolen.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said that the incident happened at about 9am outside Veve's tavern in Kwanoxolo in Bethelsdorp.

“The truck was delivering beer and stopped outside the tavern to do its dropoff. As the driver got out of the truck, two men carrying firearms approached him and demanded that he get into their car,” he said.

“The driver was then abducted and driven to an area in Marakana in Bethelsdorp where he was dropped off.”

After the driver was abducted, three men with a truck arrived and started off-loading the beer.

“Several crates of beer were stolen before the suspects sped off in their truck,” Labans said. “In total about five suspects were involved.”

The estimate value of beer stolen is R80 000.

Labans said that a case of armed robbery and kidnapping was under investigation.

On Thursday, a delivery van, transporting boxes of food products, valued at about R200,000, was hijacked in New Brighton outside the Shoprite in Dubu Street.

Within thirty minutes, the vehicle was recovered abandoned about a kilometer away in Nobatana Street and all the stock stolen.

The estimate value of food products stolen is about R200,000.

Last week Thursday, a truck transporting about R1.2m worth of liquor was hijacked outside the Showground Liquor Store in Sydenham.

The hijackers only managed to steal a few boxes of alcohol from the truck before it was found 10 minutes later in Dyasi Street, New Brighton.

On the same day, a truck transporting Simba chips, valued at about R64,000, was also hijacked in Tshangana Street, New Brighton.

Last week Monday, a refrigeration truck carrying carcasses and boxes of assorted meat was hijacked outside Shoprite in Daku Road, Kwazakhele.

The truck was found abandoned in Avenue E in New Brighton a short while later – all the meat had been stolen.