Johannesburg - The police are searching for a man who seriously injured two people by throwing bricks at their cars on the N12 in the Oakdene and Glenvista area.
The Joburg metro police department (JMPD) and the SAPS are working together to bring the suspect to book.
JMPD spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar told The Star on Tuesday that officers will continuously monitor that section of the highway where the man is believed to operate.
“Officers will monitor the bridge between the Kliprivier and Comaro Road offramp. The JMPD is working closely with the SAPS,” he said.
The man is believed to stand on the side of the N12 near the Glen Shopping Centre and throw bricks at passing motorists.
Darrel Badenhorst, whose girlfriend Marionette Swab was injured by a brick thrown into his car, saw the man on the side of the road before his car was hit.
Badenhorst and Swab were driving from Joburg to Boksburg on Thursday when he saw the man pick up a brick.
“The man was standing on the left-hand side of the road and I was driving in the middle lane when the brick struck my car. It went through the passenger window and hit my girlfriend on the head.”
The man, who Badenhorst described as tall, slender and middle-aged, did not move from the side of the road after he threw the brick.
Badenhorst said he wanted to reverse his car and question his actions, but his girlfriend was unconscious and was bleeding from the head.
After he failed to get hold of the police as well as the ambulance due to the bad cellphone reception, Badenhorst decided it would be quicker to transport his girlfriend to hospital in his own car.
“On the way, I saw an ambulance parked on the side of the road and asked them to help my girlfriend. When I got there, they were already assisting a young boy who was also hit in the head with a brick while he was travelling in his father’s car.”
The paramedics treated Swab at the scene before transporting her to Union Hospital in Alberton for further medical care.
“Since Thursday afternoon, she has been in an induced coma because of the swelling on her brain,” said Badenhorst.
Doctors were going to do more brain scans on Tuesday to see if they could bring her out of the coma.
Meanwhile, the family of Caden, the boy Badenhorst spotted in the same ambulance, are praying for his recovery.
The 8-year-old’s father, Justin Slabbert, said he, Caden and his daughter Eden, 11, were driving to their Benoni home when the same man threw a brick at their car from the side of the highway.
Caden was sitting in the passenger seat when the brick flew through his window.
“At that point, I heard a loud noise. I turned around to check up on my daughter, who was okay, but when I looked over at Caden, I saw him slumped over. He was bleeding from his head.”
He rushed to Union Hospital but spotted an ambulance on the way, which stopped to help Caden.
He was taken to the hospital, where he too remains in an induced coma.
“All we can do is pray for him and leave his life in God’s hands,” said Slabbert.
The Star