Tow-truck driver in road rage drama

[Ian Smith son]

Durban - A tow-truck driver allegedly rammed his vehicle into the back of a car and assaulted a passenger with a wheel spanner after following the vehicle for nearly 5km.

The victims, Cruse Snodey and Armand van der Walt, both 24 and of eManzimtoti, also allege the tow- truck driver pointed a cocked firearm at them.

Snodey said the road-rage drama occurred just after 7am on Tuesday as he and Van der Walt were travelling on the N2 towards Durban.

“Traffic is quite hectic at that time and we were in the slow lane and in front of us was a Jetta. The tow-truck driver was driving in the yellow emergency lane and as he neared us, he was blocked by the Jetta driver who was driving halfway into the yellow lane,” he said.

“All of a sudden, he cut in front of us and we slammed on the brakes.”

Snodey said they remonstrated with the tow-truck driver for his apparent dangerous driving.

“I said something along the lines of… ‘are you flipping stupid?’,” he said.

Snodey said the tow-truck driver left the lane and drove beside them while swearing at them.

“The next thing, he pulled out a gun and started pointing it at us. I told Armand to just continue driving.”

Snodey said the tow-truck driver tailed them for the rest of their journey.

“Our turn-off to work is at the Jacobs off-ramp. That is when I noticed that he was still following us. As we continued to drive, hoping he would stop following us, our path was blocked by a truck pulling out of a warehouse, forcing us to come to a complete stop.

“All of a sudden, this guy gets out his vehicle; he has a gun in his right hand which he cocked and a wheel spanner in his left hand.

“He came straight up to the passenger side where I was sitting and began hitting me with the wheel spanner. There was absolutely nothing I could do because if we made one move, he would have probably shot us.”

Snodey said that when the truck moved out of the way, Van der Walt sped to their nearby workplace.

“As we got to the gate of our workplace, it was closed. This guy was still following us.

“He came straight for us and hit us from behind, ramming our car into the gate.”

The impact resulted in Van der Walt hitting his head against the dashboard.

As the tow-truck driver reversed his vehicle, a co-worker who had been driving behind the tow truck, followed him to his workplace at Clairwood, Snodey said.

They called the police who arrested the man at his workplace.

Snodey sustained injuries to his arm as a result of blocking his face from the assault.

“We were absolutely scared for our lives.

“We had no idea this guy would do this and follow us all that way for something as small as us having words with him for cutting us off. We just hope the law takes its course,” he said.

Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said a a 36-year-old man had appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court this week on charges of grievous bodily harm and reckless and negligent driving.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-cour...rama-1.1835114