Three suspects have been arrested for kidnapping and car jacking in connection with the abduction of disabled man, Ryan Meyers, 33, and the theft of his brother, Myron’s, vehicle from Cambridge, East London.
According to his father, Warrant Officer Floyd Meyers, 53, the three suspects were nabbed at a popular braai spot on the R63 between Mthatha and Ngcobo, blasting the music of the stolen vehicle.
They had dumped Meyers, who is disabled as a result of a bout of meningitis as an infant, near the Cofimvaba Hospital the same night of the crime, some 180km from Cambridge.
“The police pounced on them just before 12pm on Thursday. They told me not to come near the scene as they were still doing their investigations,” said Meyers.
During an interview at his Buffalo Flats home on Thursday afternoon, Meyers said the suspects are expected to appear in court on Monday.
According to Warrant Officer Meyers, the suspects had driven with his son for more than two hours from Cambridge to Cofimvaba, before drinking alcohol in Ngcobo area.
“My son’s speech is broken but I could make sense of what he was trying to tell me. He kept shouting ‘pa dronk’..... ‘pa op en af’..... ‘vloer’.”
Meyers said his son was trying to tell him that the suspects were driving up and down aimlessly with him while drinking alcohol until they passed out.
Meyers said he was grateful to the Eastern Cape police for their support.
The Mazda 3 sedan, with Ryan on board, allegedly disappeared within 20 seconds after Meyers, who had borrowed his younger son’s car, had gone inside a local shop to buy upholstery fabric.
Meyers admitted that the thief who stole the car had used the car keys which had been left in the ignition so that Ryan could listen to music. Meyers said music kept his son calm.
Meyers said Ryan was found with R60 in his pocket, a pie and a slip showing that he had purchased two pies with a R100 note.
Warrant Officer Meyer believe that the suspects, after getting bored of his son’s company, decided to drop him off in Cofimvaba and gave him money. “When Ryan is cross he klaps everyone in front of him, so I am sure he klapped them with his hand while they were passed out until they decided they had enough.”
Meyers said he understands why the thugs drove across the province with Ryan because he was a socialite who got along with everyone.
“He doesn’t sense danger and has a limited sense of awareness. I am sure he didn’t see anything wrong with those guys.”
Asanda Magqaza, a policewoman at the Cofimvaba police station recognised Ryan from a photograph circulated on an internal police WhatsApp group and took him to hospital, where he was examined and found to be unharmed...