Elderly lady hijacked in Somerset West – Video

Elderly lady hijacked in Somerset West – Video

Sue Smuts (86) was hijacked in the driveway of her home in Helderview, Somerset West on April 29, 2015.

Smuts was returning to her home having just completed her weekly food shopping at Pick n Pay.

As she approached her gates she saw a man in her rear view mirror running to catch up with her. As he came level with her window he spoke, she couldn’t hear what he said so opened the window further.

The male promptly leaned in opened up the door, yanked the lady out of her car where she fell to the ground, got in the car and drove off, leaving the lady on the ground obviously very distressed but relatively unharmed. Not that the hijacker knew or cared.

SAPS arrived on the scene with detectives to assist the lady and gather as much evidence as possible to track this perpetrator down. A counselor, who works with SAPS and the Neighbourhood Watch (NW) attended the incident to offer support and assistance. The NW coordinator came across the scene whilst walking her dog shortly after the crime and immediately offered help which is ongoing.

The hijacker was now in possession of a Fiat Uno and a week’s worth of groceries with the bill for said food.

He took a decision to visit a Pick n Pay in Eerste River, near where he lived with the intention of obtaining a refund on the groceries! Stupidity and greed was to be his undoing.

Staff at the store were highly suspicious and removed the till receipt from the hijacker, all the while the CCTV cameras were filming him.

Pick n Pay using the smart shopper card details on the receipt undertook some investigation themselves. SAPS were called and with a little more detective work found the car which was parked in a local area.

An operation commenced and the hijacker was arrested as he approached the car.

Albertus Bredekamp, a family member, said Pick n Pay contacted the ladies local store at Waterstones and a parcel of food to replace all she had lost, a gift voucher and flowers were personally delivered to the victim by the Manager of the store.

Smuts wished to publicly thank the SAPS detectives “who were professional and compassionate throughout”, the counselor for her support and to Somerset West Neighbourhood Watch for their ongoing support.

Finally a big thank you to Pick n Pay for their wonderful gift.

CCTC footage of the incident highlighting the dangers that are lurking even in broad daylight:

Source – Somerset West Neighbourhood Watch

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