BONNIE & CLYDE - E-hailing driver warns of skelm 'couple' operating in Wetton area

AN E-HAILING driver recounted how he was robbed at gunpoint by a teen couple in a known crime hotspot in Ottery, describing how he narrowly escaped with his life after accepting what he thought was a normal trip request.

The driver, who cannot be named to protect his identity, told the Daily Voice that the incident occurred on 10 January when he received a trip by a foreigner to pick them up on Swallowcliffe Road.

He explained: “I got the request around 5.30pm and I checked the profile of the person who was requesting and it showed that it was a foreign national. Normally when I do trips, I am very skeptical driving with local people.

“When I was closed to the pick-up point and I saw no one coming, but I saw the security guard was running away. As I was checking around there was a teenage girl coming over the field.

“Then this girl got into my car and I asked her if she requested the drive and I checked my phone again because the person who requested was a male foreigner and the girl who got in was coloured.

“Then she opened the back door, put a phone in a small bag and when I realised something was going on she immediately jumped out and then a teenage boy jumped in with a gun."

The driver said at that moment he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his door and got out of the vehicle. He then ran and called for help, one of the mense in the area heard his cries and took him to the nearest cop shop.

There, he learned that the Bonnie and Clyde couple have been on a robbing spree. 

He added: "The person who requested the ride was a foreigner and also a driver; in my mind, they robbed another driver and were going to do the same with me by using my phone to request someone else.

"When the police showed up, they showed me photos of suspects, I recognised the one. The police said they are known in the area."

The skelms robbed him of his radio, bank cards, licence, cash and tampered with the wires under the dashboard.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said: “Be advised that the mentioned case is a robbery with a firearm reported at Lansdowne SAPS for investigation. The vehicle was not taken. 

“The incident occurred on 10 January at 6.20pm. The 36-year-old complainant is an e-hailing driver. Picked up two passengers, a female and male at Swallowcliffe Road, Crystal House. He was pointed with a firearm. The complainant jumped out of the vehicle and ran away."

He added that the skelms took the driver's personal property and R620 cash.

The driver said he hopes the skelms are caught to prevent further incidents.