Cops to sue pranksters

2003-09-30 21:58

Johannesburg - Johannesburg police have threatened legal action on anyone abusing the service with false alarms, following a hoax SMS from a woman to her boyfriend which made him believe she was in danger.

Superintendent Chris Wilken said on Tuesday that 20 police vehicles from various units and two helicopters were called for assistance, while 100 police members were mobilised.

The Alexandra community was also called upon to assist in the search for the woman.

Wilken said a man from Malvern in Johannesburg had contacted police informing them that his girlfriend, who is from KwaZulu-Natal, had been hijacked and kidnapped.

"The man said his girlfriend sent him three SMSs from her cellphone claiming to have been taken to a township near Sandton which she believed was Alexandra.

In the messages she said she was travelling in her Fiat Uno from Germiston en route to Pretoria when she stopped her vehicle to fetch something from the boot. She claimed that she was approached by more than two people who hijacked her and locked her in the boot before driving off and leaving her in a shack. However, she said she was "fine".

Wilken said a policeman called the boyfriend to obtain her family's number. "When the policeman called the woman's father, he said his daughter was safe and sitting with him in his car."

Wilken said the hoax was viewed in a very serious light. His department would gather legal advice and the woman may face prosecution.

"Enormous costs were involved as well as time used by police which could have been used by people in desperate need of police help."

- SAPA