When 83-year-old pensioner Herman Klynhout headed to the cemetery to visit the grave of his late wife yesterday, he had no way of knowing he would be attacked and left lying on the road as four teenagers took off in his car.
Mr Klynhout's white SUV became the subject of a statewide manhunt after he was allegedly carjacked by teenagers who escaped from the Malmsbury detention centre on Wednesday afternoon.
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Malmsbury riot: four teen escapees arrested
Four teens are arrested in Melbourne's southeast but three remain at large after breaking out of a youth detention centre amid a riot and allegedly carjacking a pensioner's SUV on Wednesday. Courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
"By the time I realised what happened, it was only maybe a minute and it was all done," he told Fairfax Media.
After visiting Harcourt Cemetery, south of Bendigo, about 3.15pm, Mr Klynhout had driven about a kilometre when he had to slow for traffic.
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To his surprise, four teenagers piled out of the car ahead of him and charged towards him.
"All four jumped out of the car and came to my car and started abusing me and opened all my doors," he said.
"One got in the passenger seat and pushed me out of my side of the car."
The teenagers began to drive away in his car, leaving Mr Klynhout lying on the road, but the ordeal was not over.
The car stopped a short distance away - the keyless entry remote was still in Mr Klynhout's pocket, causing the car's engine to shut down once it was out of range.
"They came back to me again and started saying 'I want the keys, I want the keys'. As soon as I put my hand in my pocket, he grabbed them."
Mr Klynhout said another male jumped out of the car, threatened him and demanded his wallet.
"He said: 'I could have kicked you in the head. I want your purse.' I backed up a bit. But another yelled out of the car, 'come on, come on, we have to go."
The teenagers did not have any weapons, "only fists", Mr Klynhout said.
"They wanted to hurt me. They wanted to take my wallet but they were out of time. They were after a quick getaway."
Two police cars soon came charging down the road. One continued after his vehicle, while another stopped to wait with him, he said.
The former tradesman has not been told where his car, which he purchased just two weeks ago, is located. However police have informed the public that a white Suzuki SUV, which several escapees had been travelling in, was involved in a collision with another vehicle and dumped at the intersection of Springvale and Wellington roads in Mulgrave on Wednesday night.
"The car is somewhere in Melbourne and the whole side has been smashed but police did not ring me about it. I heard from private people. It's on the side of the road as far as I know."
But he was in good spirits when Fairfax Media spoke to him on Thursday morning.
"In the moment that it happened, you don't think about it," he said, when asked if he felt frightened during the incident.
"If they had more time, I think it could have been more serious. I was lucky."
Four more teen escapees have been arrested, and three are still on the run after busting out of the Malmsbury youth detention centre amid riots, and causing a violent crime wave across the city. On Wednesday, police arrested eight of the other escapees.