Kidnapping: Durban man escapes gang after they inject him

A gang of alleged kidnappers jabbed 21-year-old Dylan Egling and his female friend, who they also tried to kidnap, with a syringe believed to contain a date rape drug outside Kings Park Stadium in Durban.

Egling told The South African how he and his two friends were lucky to evade the kidnappers who had initially attempted to kidnap his friend’s sister. Egling and his friends had been out partying and were walking outside the stadium gates to meet their Uber driver when they were accosted by the gang just before midnight. The incident occurred on Friday 23 April.

“We were walking past a car that was offering lifts to people, and when those people are around you tell them no. These people offered us a lift, they approached me and I said its fine no thank you we have a lift. It was just one person at that time,” he said.

Egling said the man, then climbed into a car and started following them as they walked in search of their taxi, which it appeared had already left the area.

“These guys were following us and we were hiding in the dark and trying to get hold of someone to come and fetch us. They saw we were with a girl and they tried to grab her. They tried to grab her by the hair and my friend and I realised there was something going on and I tried to stay as calm as I could,” he said.

“I told my friend to take her and run and gave him my wallet and keys. They had not pulled out a weapon and I thought let me hold these guys up,” he said.

“One of the guys pushed me and started punching me and I hit him back. He realised I was not going to stop and he said ‘relax’ and in his right hand above his head, he lifted a syringe and I thought ‘oh no, not today’ and I carried on and eventually got him in a choke slam,” Egling said.

However, Egling said the alleged kidnapper then managed to jab the syringe into his chest and the scuffle continued before he managed to break free and run away.

“As I ran away he jabbed me one more time in the back and I felt it, it had punctured my lung and I started to breath heavy and fell down,” Egling said.

Egling said the suspects also then managed to catch up with his friend and his sister. 

“In order for them to let her go she threw her handbag at them and screamed out ‘leave me, leave me’. She was lucky because they tried to jab her but it didn’t work because her bra strap stoped the needle…and they tried a second time and she collapsed instantly. They eventually left Jacko Jackson Road and turned left towards Durban North,” Egling said.

He said by that time it was after the midnight curfew and the kidnapping suspects probably wanted to get off the streets before the police may have arrived.  He said friend managed to get hold of his mother who arrived and took them to hospital.

“I had two puncture wounds and they put me on a drip and flushed the stuff out of me,” he said.

He said he suspected that a date rape drug had been used on him in an attempt to kidnap him. He said he had not yet been able to open a case at his local police station due to long queues, however, his attorney was assisting him to report the crime. Egling has briefly shared his story in Instagram too.