Cape Town - A man has been arrested and a firearm confiscated in connection with an alleged botched hijacking on Slangkop Road at Ocean View near Kommetjie in the South Peninsula this past week, Western Cape police said on Sunday.
"Ocean View police detectives and crime prevention members followed up on leads and arrested a 30-year-old-man and seized an unlicensed firearm with ammunition," Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said.
The arrested suspect was allegedly linked to the murder of a man whose body was found in the boot of his burnt out car in Slangkop Road, Ocean View, on the night of May 8. Police also found car keys suspected to be those of the victim's car. The arrest of another suspect was imminent as the investigations continued, Rwexana said.
It is believed the 38-year-old man from Scarborough was attacked by two men in the evening while returning to his car after surfing at Witsand. His attackers put him in the boot of his car, then drove away in it.
Ocean View police spokesperson Sergeant Leon Fortuin said the hijackers then gave two women a lift. On Slangkop Road, near Ocean View, the women became aware someone was in the boot of the car and told the hijackers they wanted to get out immediately. The men refused and, while arguing with the women, crashed into a vehicle.
“The other driver gave chase, because he thought it was a drunk driver,” Fortuin said. “When they stopped, he saw four people getting out (of the hijacked car). Then two men pointed firearms, so the driver pulled away.
“He watched them from a distance, and saw them scratching in the car then setting the car alight.”
Fortuin said it appeared the victim was alive when the hijackers set fire to the car. “According to me he was still alive, because the two girls who were in the car said he was alive and (judging from the position of his body) it looked like he was trying to climb out the vehicle,” Fortuin said. “But that is just speculation - we are awaiting the post-mortem results.”