Gas gun-wielding trio nabbed after hijacking cab driver

A Port Elizabeth Bolt (formerly Taxify) cab driver was hijacked and forced into the boot of his car by three men armed with a gas gun in Zwide on Monday evening.

Within an hour of the hijackers abandoning the car, the 24-year-old driver walked into Walmer Police Station where he bumped into his alleged hijackers - who had been caught walking in Heugh Road, Walmer.

“It is alleged that on Monday evening the taxi driver was contacted (by the app) to pick up passengers from a tavern in Betrum Street in Zwide," Colonel Priscilla Naidu said.

"When he arrived there, three men got in the car. As the driver started driving away, one of the men held him at gunpoint and forced him out of the vehicle and into the boot of the Tata Indica.

"The suspects drove to Airport Valley in Walmer.

"Upon arrival at their destination, the three suspects took him out of the car and instructed him to hand over his cellphone and money.

"After they robbed him, the men told him to run away. The three suspects then abandoned the vehicle."

Naidu said after the men fled on foot, the driver returned to the car and found the keys inside.

“He started the vehicle and drove to Walmer Police station for help.”

Unknown to the driver, police had already caught the men near Fourth Avenue in Heugh Road – less than 2km from where the car was abandoned.

“Police were patrolling the area when they spotted the men walking in the street. When they saw the police van they began acting suspiciously leading to the officials stopping them. On searching them, police recovered a firearm, which was later established to be a gas gun.”

Naidu said that when police walked into the police station with the suspects, the 24-year-old driver immediately recognised them.

“Police then searched the suspects and the taxi driver’s cellphone, as well as money, was found in their possession,” she said.

“All three were arrested for being in possession of the stolen cellphone and a firearm with an alternative charge of being in possession of a dangerous weapon.”

The men, aged 20, 22 and 23 all from Zwide, will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.