'Victim' arrested after allegedly fabricating armed robbery
Image: Pxhere
A Port Elizabeth woman is spending the weekend in jail after she allegedly lied to police about being robbed at home in Kensington on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old reported a robbery at the Mount Road police station 9am on Wednesday.
However, police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said police had since determined the woman had made the story up, and she was arrested on Saturday morning.
Naidu said the woman claimed she was followed to her Connaught Avenue home by two men.
“As she got to her front door, the men approached her and told her that they were municipal plumbers and were there to inspect the plumbing,” she said.
“The woman further alleged that when she told them to come back when her parents were there, they threatened her with a knife and took her inside. A PlayStation was stolen.”
Naidu said the woman claimed she was taken in the suspects’ car to the Greenacres Cash Crusaders where she had to sell the PlayStation and give them the money.
“CCTV footage at Cash Crusaders and other places in the mall revealed that the woman’s version and that which is on camera is contradictory,” Naidu said.
Mount Road cluster commander Major-General Thembisile Patekile warned that police would not hesitate to arrest those opening false cases.
“The cases opened are very serious allegations and require intensive investigation which entail many long hours, manpower and resources.”
The woman is expected to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of contravening section 9 of the Justice of the Peace and Commissioner of Oaths Act 16 of 1963 and theft.