Man fakes hijacking, gets arrested
A 35-year-old man was arrested and charged with perjury and defeating the ends of justice after he spun an elaborate story to cover up the loss of his employer’s vehicle.
The man allegedly told police his employer’s car had been hijacked in Forest Town, near Zoo Lake, two days earlier.
“Officers tried to assist him, but they noticed that he was making contradictory statements,” said Mdletshe.
The man claimed he had gone to a garage to buy mielie-meal and stopped at a Pick ‘n Pay to buy meat before being hijacked.
Police then took him to both locations to verify his story, and the man was shown CCTV footage at the garage taken on the evening of the alleged incident.
Neither the man nor the vehicle he had been driving could be spotted in the video, and it was also discovered the store had been closed at the time the man claimed to have shopped there.
After an interrogation, the man eventually confessed he had been drinking heavily in Randburg and woke up the next morning with no memory of what had happened.
“He also had no idea what happened to his employer’s car, which was missing after he woke up,” Mdletshe said.
Mdletshe explained the suspect’s employer was overseas and had requested to be picked up in the vehicle on the day the “crime” was reported.
Earlier this month, a 21-year-old North West man opened a business robbery case at the Marikana police station, claiming his tavern had been robbed.
He informed the police a gun had been pointed at him. He was forced into the house where a safe containing an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. He further alleged he had been tied up and left inside the tavern.
It was later discovered the man had faked the robbery.
He was later arrested and appeared in court on a charge of perjury.
– Caxton News Service
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