SHOTS AT A CAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 83, 9 April 1934, Page 8

SHOTS AT A CAR

EXCITING POLICE CHASE BIG LOAD OF LIQUOR DASH THROUGH JOHANNESBURG A strange game of hares and hounds through Johannesburg streets in motorcars, followed by a seven-mile dash along the Main Reef Road at 60 miles > an hour, ended near Florida with a . volley of bullets from three police revolvers, when a squad of East Rand ■ detectives captured three native “rurv , ners” and their car-load of nearly 300 ; bottles of liquor, reports the Rand ' Daily Mail. The chase began at Ferreirastown when a large car nosed its way out of I a yard and set off at high speed. A ; block away a fast police car had been > ticking over for more than two hours, ! with the driver waiting for this mo- ■ ment. In the vicinity were four detectives and a native informer. They • immediately gave chase. 1 Apparently the occupants of the first 1 car—three natives—observed that they • were being followed, and they made for ’ the maize of squalid streets in the : west end of the city. On the pavements crowds stood, oblivious of the chase through their midst. Try as they ’ could, the occupants of the first car were unable to shake off their relentless pursuers. Sixty Miles an Hour. ‘ They decided upon a new course of I action, and putting all their hope in i the speed of their car, made for the . Main Reef Road. Down the Fordsburg dip and through Grown Mines they ; shot, leaving a cloud of swirling dust - in their wake. 1 A detective unconnected with the hunt chanced to be standing at the Canada Junction railway crossing, and ‘ the sight of two cars within a hundred ' yards of one another made him gasp L with amazement. ’ Each car was speeding at more than 60 miles an hour as they took the crossing and each car leapt up in the air several feet from the ground only to gain equilibrium and continue the mad 5 dash westwards. i But rhe police car proved the faster. , It drew to the alleged “runners,” i where the road skirts the C.M.R. golf J course. , A Diversion. 3 Suddenly the front car slowed down , and two natives leapt into the road. ] They tumbled headlong and quickly f picking thcniselve.s up began racing into 3 the open veld. The police car slowed - down to 35 m.p.h.—considerably slower i than the liquor car—and two European detectives fell heavily on the road, r grazing their hands and knees. They 1 gave chase and caught the two natives j while the police car continued its dash , after the fugitive. Slowly making up lost time, the 1 police car got close enough to fire a ) volley of revolver shots at the tyres i of the car ahead. The sharpshooters were leaning over 1 the side of their car, with the wind r whistling in their ears. One man took J } as careful aim as possible at 60 m.p.h. The shot was wide, and the bullet j struck a cloud of dust from the roadside. The second shot ricochetted off the asphalt. With the next shot, however, the report of the fired revolver 4 and a burst rear tyre were simulf taneous. The ear rocked, and a fourth ? shot followed quickly, resulting in the other back tyre being burst. Ou the Rims, z a The police car slowed down slightly 3 in anticipation of the expected end of the chase, but the native continued to drive his machine along at a breakL neck speed, running on the two back 1 rims. ; The police were amazed, and once more the driver opened the throttle. At the risk of causing the front car to overturn, the police opened fire on t one of the front tyres. Three more shots went wide. The fourth ended the pursuit. When the tyre burst the native’s catswung across the Toad, swerved back i again, and zig-zagged to a jerky stop. J The detectives were upon the man t almost before his car stopped. He was L handcuffed, and the car searched. It ’ contained 289 bottles of wine and two r bottles of brandy. 5 These and the car were seized, and eventually taken to the Fordsburg 1 police station, -with the two natives who ■ were caught on the veld. All three have been detained. 1 '— ■