For one man, it was easier to fake a hijacking than to face the wrath of his employer. The 38-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday by the Wonderboompoort police for perjury and defeating the ends of justice. According to Warrant Officer Wanda Olivier, spokesperson for the police, the suspect allegedly fabricated a hijacking and reported it to the Villieria police station.
The suspect allegedly approached Warrant Officer Jacques Oosthuizen and Constable Larissa Laas in Eloffsdal and told them a hijacking story he fabricated. He was standing next to his Mitsubishi truck, which he claimed had been hijacked and then recovered by himself.
According to the suspect, he was hijacked on Monday on the corner of Booysen and Paul Kruger streets. “A woman working at the business where the truck was parked approached the police and told them that she saw the man, who claimed that he had been hijacked, park the truck himself. She could allegedly not gain access to the business’ premises due to the truck and asked him to move it,” Olivier said.
After an intensive interview with the suspect, the officers found that he had fabricated the hijacking because he was afraid of going back to work. “He said that he was afraid of losing his job if he returned with a partially mechanically broken truck. His employer was, according to him, fed up with fixing work vehicles that were constantly breaking down.”
The suspect will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court during the course of the week.
