Taxi passengers rescue Free State woman, granddaughter in alleged kidnapping

Taxi passengers chased and held a man who had allegedly kidnapped a 62-year-old woman and her granddaughter.

• A suspect has been arrested for kidnapping a woman and her granddaughter.
• The men drove over her foot when she tried to run away.
• The woman flagged down an oncoming taxi.

Free State police arrested a man for allegedly kidnapping a 62-year-old woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter in Arlington, Free State on Saturday after taxi passengers came to their rescue.

The suspect and an accomplice allegedly asked the woman to take them to a hiking spot on the Arlington-Lindley road at about 14:00.

The woman, who knew the suspected accomplice, agreed and drove them to the hiking spot in her Mercedes Benz. Her granddaughter was also in the car.

According to police spokesperson Warrant Officer Mmako Mophiring, the suspects became aggressive towards the woman when they arrived at the hiking spot, and ordered her to take them to Senekal. She refused.

“They allegedly pulled her out of the driver’s seat and put her in the front passenger seat. As they were driving towards Senekal on the R707, the car got three tyre punctures and it ran out of petrol,” Mophiring added.

The woman tried to run away, but the driver drove over her left foot and forced her back into the car. Her granddaughter was still in the vehicle.

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Mophiring said the suspect known to the woman left to buy petrol, leaving the second suspect with the woman and her granddaughter in the car.

While waiting, the woman saw an oncoming taxi full of passengers. She stopped it. 

“The suspect, who saw that she was getting attention from the taxi driver, ran away.”

The taxi’s passengers chased him down and held him until police arrived on the scene.

The woman was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.

The suspect was arrested. He is expected to appear in the Arlington Magistrate’s Court on Monday, facing charges of kidnapping and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The other man is still on the run.