Police described it as a scene from an action movie as two stolen Toyota Hilux bakkies crashed into each other during a high-speed pursuit near Mangweni, in Ehlanzeni District Municipality, Mpumalanga, on Wednesday.
A statement issued by the provincial commissioner in Mpumalanga said that local police were conducting routine patrols along the Nkomati Anthracite Mine, south of Tonga, on Wednesday evening when two suspicious Toyota Hilux bakkies were spotted.
Police signalled a request for the vehicles to stop, but both vehicles sped off with police giving chase.
A short distance away, one of the stolen vehicles veered into a muddy ditch, splashing both vehicles’ windscreens with mud. With both drivers’ views obstructed, the vehicles crashed into each other shortly afterwards.
Panicked, both drivers alighted the vehicles and ran into nearby brush, leaving behind their cellphones. Police were unable to locate the suspects but believe arrests are imminent.
While escorting the two stolen Toyota Hilux vehicles to Tonga police station, police spotted another suspicious vehicle, a Ford Ranger bakkie. Police pursued the suspect after he failed to heed instructions to pull over. The driver fled the scene after being cornered by police.
Preliminary investigations indicated that one of the Toyota Hilux bakkies was stolen in the Hartbeespoort area in the North West, while the second Hilux was stolen in Brooklyn, Pretoria.
The Ford Ranger was also reported stolen in Boksburg North, Gauteng.
Police have since detained a 34-year-old man for questioning on suspicion that he was escorting the Ford Ranger in a VW Polo.
The provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, commended police for their excellent work.
Manamela said that police in Mpumalanga would do their best to intercept the free movement of stolen vehicles in the province, and more efforts to apprehend those behind smuggling of stolen vehicles out of the country were top on the priority list.
Recent SAPS crime statistics suggest that syndicates are targeting new high-end vehicles such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Fortuner, with the Toyota Hilux GD6 range being of particular interest to criminals.
IOL