Man held for lying about car

2008-07-18 22:04

Johannesburg - A 29-year-old man was arrested for reporting his car stolen after it was impounded by metro police officers who had arrested him for drunken driving, Johannesburg's East Rand police said on Friday.

Constable Zenzile Morudi said the man was arrested for drunken driving in Edenvale at 08:00 on Friday.

He was taken to metro police offices to have his blood drawn, but escaped while handcuffed, said Morudi. He somehow managed to get the handcuffs off and left them at the offices.

When he got back to his home in Edleen, Kempton Park, thanks to a friend who picked him up, he called Sebenza police to report his car stolen at 10:00. Police arrived and opened a case of car theft.

"But police investigations revealed that he had lied," she said. He was then re-arrested and taken to the Sebenza police station.

He was expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of defeating the ends of justice and escaping from lawful custody, said Morudi.

- SAPA