Brave members of the public came to the rescue of a student when two men tried to rob her in Port Elizabeth.
The student was waiting at a bus stop in Admiralty Drive, Summerstrand, at about 12:00 on Monday when two men walked past her. She stepped back so they could pass and one lifted his shirt and showed her a firearm.
The 24-year-old student threw her cellphone in the bushes and ran away screaming, after which motorists stopped to help her.
According to an eyewitness, one of the suspected robbers wanted to shoot at the motorists, but his firearm allegedly jammed.
Capt. Police spokeswoman Sandra Janse van Rensburg says motorists chased the two men. Even after one of them tried to fire a shot, the motorists did not waver and grabbed both.
Janse van Rensburg said the police K9 unit was on patrol in the area and helped arrest the men.
The two men, aged 21 and 22, respectively, were arrested on charges of robbery and possession of an unlicensed firearm and cartridge.
The student’s cellphone was recovered.
Major-General. Mount Road police station commander Thembisile Patekile praised the motorists for their actions. He warned students not to walk openly and simply with their cellphones in public, because opportunistic thieves could exploit the situation.
