"Two men jumped out of the car but, because it is an automatic vehicle, the Mercedes just kept going."
|||Cape Town - A car smashed into the sushi bar at the Food Lover’s Market in Lower Loop Street on Wednesday morning, apparently after two men who were being chased by police abandoned the vehicle, which then kept moving.
A senior employee at the shop, who asked not to be named, spoke to the Cape Argus from the scene this morning. He said the occupants of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class were being chased by police at the time of the crash.
“Two men jumped out of the car but, because it is an automatic vehicle, the Mercedes just kept going,” he said, adding that he was not aware of any injuries resulting from the crash.
“It ramped the pavement and came crashing through the windows of the sushi bar.
“Luckily there was a low wall on the inside of the glass. This acted as a barrier which prevented the car from driving further into the shop and causing more damage.”
A police officer on the scene apparently informed employees that the men were suspects in a “bank robbery”, others said the car was stolen.
One of the suspects ran past guards at the entrance of the centre where the Food Lover’s Market is situated. He ran into the bathrooms and locked himself in a cubicle.
“When the police came in we directed them to the restrooms. They knocked on the door and asked the suspect to come out, but he refused. They had to forcibly remove him and cuffed him before leading him away,” said the employee.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said officers were still on the scene gathering information. He could not provide a comment at the time of publication.
daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za
Cape Argus