Terrifying moment South African motorist runs over carjacker who aimed a gun at him... four months after crooks attacked his vehicle with axes on same stretch of road
- Corporate manager Mario Campbell ran over his armed attacker in South Africa
- The teen terror was seen walking towards him with a gun aimed at his head
- Just three months ago, Mr Campbell was attacked by axe-wielding robbers on the same stretch of road
This is the terrifying moment a South African motorist ran over a carjacker who aimed a gun at his head while he was slowing down at traffic lights.
Corporate manager Mario Campbell was in a township near Cape Town when the teenager calmly walked out into the dual carriageway.
As the attacker raised his gun, the frightened father-of-two revved his engine and accelerated, aiming his Toyota Ayga, known as an Aygo in the UK, straight at the youngster.
Incredible dashcam video shows the hapless young criminal realising too late that 1.3 tons of speeding car is about to hit him.
Footage shows the wannabe teenage hijacker somersaulting over the left side of the bonnet and landing on his back in the road at Khayelitsha township, where 2.5 million people live in poverty in shacks.
It comes four months after crooks attacked Mr Campbell's car with axes on the same stretch of road.
The teen robber was seen wielding a gun as he tried going for Mr Campbell's car
Mario Campbell immediately decided to accelerate into the robber
The armed crook quickly realised he wasn't going to slow down
The attempted robbery took place in South Africa's Khayelitsha township, where 2.5 million live in poverty in shacks
Mr Campbell refused to comment for fear of reprisals after injuring the gunman
The young crook, who has not yet been identified, can be seen tumbling over the left side of the car
This wasn't the first time corporate manager Mario Campbell was attacked by armed robbers
Mr Campbell - who has an another incredible video showing him escaping a hijack by an axeman on the same stretch of road at the previous set of traffic lights 200 yards away - is then seen speeding off.
The businessman told friends on Facebook: 'First a maniac with an axe trying to smash his way into my car then a kid who should have been at school holding me up with a handgun!
'That is it dudes I am taking a different way into work from now on - I just want to go to work and come home to my family safe'.
Thousands took to social media supporting Mr Campbell as his video went viral praising him for taking the law into his own hands and hailed him a 'hero' for fighting back against criminals.
Community leader Bongile Zanazo said the Mew Way Bridge where Mr Campbell was targeted on the M32 by the entrance to Khayelitsha was a hotspot for car-jackings at gunpoint and knifepoint.
He said: 'We are aware of the various crimes incidents that keep happening there and have put into place an stiff action plan to combat it but the details of that are being kept top secret.
'We also implore the City of Cape Town to deploy more police officers to the area to prevent these crimes taking place' he said.
The first 28 second video shows Mr Campbell driving along the highway behind a station wagon and a minibus taxi as he slows down to allow a car to turn right when the gunman suddenly appears.
The youth had been waiting in ambush sitting on a crash barrier and is believed to have approached his target having seen the company logo on the car, knowing it would contain valuables.
Mr Campbell refused to comment for fear of reprisals after injuring the gunman who escaped back into the maze of shacks but a close friend said: 'He is a very brave man.
'Three months before, at almost the same spot, a robber with an axe went after him but he got away and now he has run over a gunman - that is twice and you can only be lucky so many times.
'He now takes another route to and from work and is fully aware of his surroundings at every set of traffic lights' she said.
Mr Campbell was attacked by axe-wielding robbers in June
A close friend said he was worried about Mario's safety: 'You can only be lucky so many times'
He managed to capture the terrifying incident on a dashcam
It is understood the thieves who menace dozens of miles of the local roads target company cars that are marked as it is likely they have laptops and expensive equipment inside
It is understood the thieves who menace dozens of miles of the local roads target company cars that are marked as it is likely they have laptops and expensive equipment inside.
The local Khayelitsha Police Station has more car hijackings reported than any other police station in South Africa and each year the country suffers over 22,000 such car incidents.
Local Crime Watch volunteer Juwa Dimande said: 'If you stop at a red traffic light, as a law abiding citizen would of course do, you are putting yourself at risk of an attack or even death.
'They will smash your window and if you resist them they will shoot you. Simple as that. All the traffic lights do in Khayelitsha is change colour – nobody stops for them. It's too dangerous.
'Even ambulances attending emergencies to save the lives of the township people are attacked and robbed and hijacked.'
On June 30, Mr Campbell's dashcam video, which also records inside the car, picked up two men walking alongside his car on the passenger side as he pulled up at traffic lights.
It was just 200 yards from the set of lights where the schoolboy tried to hijack him with a gun earlier this month.
The footage shows two men knocking on his passenger window to distract him while a third robber armed with a vicious axe pulls it out from under his jacket and tries to smash his window.
Fortunately the blade bounces off the Toyota Agya window allowing Mr Campbell to hit the accelerator and speed off to safety.
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