Police in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, claim to have to caught the "dumbest criminal" this year.
The man actually walked into a station to report that he had been held up at gunpoint by a gang who had stolen his mobile phone.
But when the detective phoned the number of the phone reportedly stolen, it rang in the complainant's pocket.
"The shock left him speechless for a few minutes," said police spokesman Eugene Opperman, adding that the man, 25, was then arrested for perjury.
The 25 year old man however told the detective that he had given him the wrong number, but couldn't explain why the phone in his pocket had the serial number nof the reported stolen phone, or why it was same make and fitted the description he had given of the 'stolen phone'."
The police then issued a statement entitled "Dumbest criminal" with details of the weekend incident.
South Africa's reputation has long been tarnished by the high levels of crime, often accompanied by extreme violence involving guns.
SOURCE: SABC NEWS
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