Pie stop ends in hijack drama

"He had an old, worn-out Star 9mm pistol. I could see it. That's how close it was to my head."

|||

Durban - A quick stop to buy lunch in Pinetown for two sales reps ended in a hijacking that left one with a badly hurt knee, that now needs surgery, and their car damaged.

Irene, 55 and Mark Cockcroft, 61, of La Mercy, spoke of the ordeal this week while loading their car on to a flatbed tow truck at the police pound in Durban.

The Cockcrofts were hijacked on Wednesday. A vehicle tracking unit found their car abandoned on the roadside in Otto Volek Road in Pinetown the next day.

The couple had parked outside a pie shop.

Mark had just handed Irene their pies through the passenger window when he heard “bangs”.

Apparently another hijacking was in progress and a car mounted the pavement before speeding off. While trying to flee the scene, one of the hijackers came at Mark with a gun, apparently wanting the couple’s vehicle to get away.

Irene said she heard her husband scream “duck, duck”. She tried to roll up the window while Mark hid at the side of the car.

“The hijacker grabbed Mark from behind and wrestled with him for the keys. He placed the gun to Mark’s head,” she said.

The hijacker threw Mark on to the ground, injuring his ankle, knee and shoulder. Mark had undergone back surgery two years earlier and the fall hurt him again.

The hijacker jumped in and demanded that Irene get out. She grabbed her bag and leapt out only to find Mark lying face down.

“I thought he had been shot dead. The hijacker almost drove over him. I ran over and pulled him aside. He had the hijacker’s blood on his shirt,” she said. The hijacker was bleeding from a head wound.

“He had an old, worn-out Star 9mm pistol. I could see it. That’s how close it was to my head,” Mark said.

Their vehicle tracking company found the car the next day with a changed number plate and a dent on the side. Mark is now struggling to walk and will undergo surgery to his right leg next week.

 

Police are investigating a case of hijacking.

The couple eventually ate their pies in the hospital waiting room.

Daily News