A motorist allegedly drove a stolen Mini Cooper car against traffic on the N2 in Durban to evade arrest.
|||Durban - A motorist who allegedly drove a stolen Mini Cooper car against the traffic flow on the N2 to evade arrest, was eventually arrested by a determined policeman.
What began as an ordinary call on the police radio on Friday concerning two motor vehicles, turned into a movie-style car chase for two Mayville policemen.
Constable Mohammed Rasool was in the police station when the call came over the radio that a Toyota Fortuner and the Mini, with suspicious-looking men inside, were parked on Harbottle Road, Overport.
Rasool and his partner, Constable Andrew Mayisela, responded in an SAPS-marked Polo Vivo. They spotted the vehicles near the bridge on Felix Dlamini (Brickfield) Road. Rasool said the vehicles had joined the N3 west-bound at a high speed.
He had lost track of the Fortuner but pursued the Mini, which had joined the N2 south-bound freeway at an estimated speed of 220km/h. Rasool managed to pass the car at Kenyon Howden Bridge and then signalled to the driver to stop.
Rasool passed him and began slowing down in an attempt to stop the Mini.
The driver, however, made a 180º-turn using his handbrake and allegedly began driving on the fast lane - against the flow of traffic.
Rasool said he turned and chased.
“They had no concern for the safety of others. Now and then they veered on to the centre median to avoid oncoming cars,” he said.
“Motorists opened the way for them to avoid a head-on collision.”
“The Cooper crossed over three lanes and went down the on-ramp towards the M7.”
He described it as an unbelievable chase.
“I have never experienced this in six years of policing. I was determined to catch them at all odds,” Rasool said.
The chase continued up the M7 and into Malvern.
The men then drove into the Malvern Shopping Centre underground parking.
Metro police had arrived and arrested one suspect, while Rasool and Mayisela arrested the other.
Police said the suspects had a bag containing car break-in tools, including a bolt cutter, and electronic overriding boxes.
The Mini was reported stolen at the Durban North police station earlier this month.
The Fortuner was found an hour later abandoned on the roadside in uMlazi, where the suspects reside.
The man and his accomplice were expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today on charges of being in possession of stolen property and car break-in implements.
Daily News