A 47-year-old taxi driver on Thursday night had to face the ordeal of being car-jacked, gun-butted and held hostage in the back seat of his own vehicle while his hijackers took over the wheel.

Moments later in added jeopardy during a high speed chase by police, the car careened off a lonely road ending up in a caiman-infested trench at Cummings Lodge.

Overpowered by the police, the men were taken into custody and the hijacked taxi driver Elvis Alert, ingesting a quantity of trench water in the crash, was taken to hospital for treatment.

Alert, a father of three, who is employed as a driver with GI Taxi service, recalled that shortly before midnight on Thursday he was at the Stabroek Car Park when three men hired him to do a ‘special’ trip. They first requested to be taken to Tucville where one of them disembarked.  Two others remained in the car and requested to be taken to Caneview Avenue, South Ruimveldt, which he did.

However, on arriving there one of the men drew a handgun and ordered him out of the vehicle. The men then violently grabbed Alert, bundled him up and threw him onto the backseat of the car. One of them, with a gun held to his head, sat on him to keep him down.  The other took control of the wheel and sped off.

Fortunately, a customer who regularly uses GI Cabs witnessed the incident and immediately alerted the GI base and the police. The taxi service promptly dispatched drivers to assist the police in pursuing the men.

Meantime, an all-station alert went out about the incident with the number of the stolen car- HC 1720.  The vehicle was eventually spotted by ranks of a mobile police patrol who gave chase and caught up with the getaway car at Cummings Lodge, in the vicinity of the new Forensic Laboratory at Turkeyen.

In the desperate bid to escape the police, the rogue driver lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a trench.  A relative of Alert who related the incident to this newspaper, said that as police arrested and interrogated one of the men, he tried to convince them that the other one had escaped. But at that point, the taxi driver who was also trapped in the car and was underwater called out to the police in a faint voice, identifying himself and informing them that the second man was still there in the car.

Elvis said, that on hearing that, the police fearlessly jumped into the trench fully clad in their uniform, rescued him and dived to get the second suspect. A friend of Alert’s family who had learnt of the incident telephoned the family and informed them. They rushed to the scene where they found their injured relative and took him to the Georgetown Hospital.  He was treated for abrasions and given saline.

The two suspects were arrested and taken into police custody. Police said that an unlicensed .38 revolver with one round was recovered at the scene.

Meanwhile, the rescued taxi driver joined by his immediate and extended family, immediately thanked God for sparing his life, recalling that death had stared him in the face that night. They also expressed profound gratitude to the police, especially, the Turkeyen/Sophia and Sparendaam police ranks who took prompt, efficient and selfless action as they sought to save his life and capture the carjackers.
Moreover, the family would like to thank the customer who intervened by alerting the police, as well as the drivers from GI Cabs who assisted the police in their search.