In Google’s never-ending quest to capture every corner of the globe for its Maps service, their legion of cars equipped with 360 degree cameras have snapped a few odd things.
Everything from a gang of scuba divers chasing cars on land, to a creepy figure peering down from a balcony can be found clicking through the site's Street View.
But South Africa has taken the cake... forcefully and with a gun.
On Thursday morning images of an apparent hijacking in Midrand captured by one of Google's cars was discovered on Google Maps. The images were taken in February on Junction Road in the upmarket suburb in Gauteng and show the incident unfolding in broad daylight.
Two men can be seen removing the ADT security guard, dressed in full gear, from his vehicle. One of them, wearing a large colourful hat, has a gun trained on the guard as the other wrestles with him next to the car.
A white BMW is parked nearby, with what appears to be a third man waiting for his accomplices to rob the guard. On the website, users have a full interactive view of the apparent hijacking.
It has been revealed that criminals often target security guards patrolling SA's neighbourhoods in a bid to steal weapons and ammunition.
The Cape Argus contacted Google to find out if the company behind the popular search engine was aware of the incident. The faces of the alleged hijackers have been blurred out, however its not clear whether this was done manually or is part of the website's code. The technology company had not yet responded at the time of going to print.
The images were shared on Twitter where users tried to figure out what was going on.
On Thursday afternoon, ADT confirmed that one of their security guards had been robbed in February.
“It was an opportunistic crime where an ADT Reaction Officer was held at gunpoint by two criminals in Johannesburg,” said Inland Region General Manager Theunis Kotze.
No one was injured, but the officer's weapon was stolen.
He added that no one was arrested at the time but that the pictures shared on social media could possibly assist in furthering the investigation and will be looked into further by the police and the security company.
Cape Argus