Vendor hit in foot by bullet in chase

A newspaper vendor was hit in the foot by a bullet fired by a policeman during a car theft incident on Pritchard Street Thursday morning.

Two men driving a black Citi Golf Velocity entered the Easipark parking lot on President Street at 11.40am.

“Ten minutes later, a white Toyota saloon came speeding down the ramp and burst through the boom gate,” said Servest security guard Edward Khomola, 34, who was operating the ticket payment booth.

“But only one of the men was in it,” he said.

A Joburg metro police department (JMPD) patrol car was waiting at the traffic lights on the corner of President and Sauer streets when the stolen car swerved past.

“Someone shouted ‘Stop that car!’ and he almost hit us from behind,” said one of the two officers, who wished to remain anonymous.

“Stuck behind two other cars, I got out and ran between the cars, chasing the stolen vehicle on foot down Sauer Street,” she said.

The saloon turned into Pritchard Street and the officer opened fire. Several shots were heard.

A bullet ricocheted off the saloon and hit newspaper vendor James Mothobi, piercing his left foot.

“I was just standing there, waiting for the newspapers. I didn’t even see the police car, but I heard the sirens and then felt pain in my foot,” he said.

The stolen car, whose back left tyre had been punctured, was abandoned at the corner of Gwigwi Mrwebi and Gerard Sekoto streets.

“The suspect escaped on foot,” said the officer.

The allen key used to open and start the car was still in the ignition.

Meanwhile, the suspect’s accomplice was still in the Easipark car park.

“About 10 minutes after the Toyota burst through the boom gate, the Golf came down the ramp to exit the car park. The young man came to pay for his ticket and I asked him where his friend was because a car had just been stolen,” said Khomola, who asked the driver to reverse.

The driver got out of the car and told him his friend was “somewhere else”.

Khomola said that when he turned around, the man had climbed back into his car, then broke through the entrance boom gate and drove away.

JMPD spokeswoman Edna Mamonyane confirmed the incident. - The Star