Cape Town man smears faeces on his face in bid to avoid arrest

Police officers got more than they bargained for when an alleged thief tried to evade arrest by wiping faeces on his face.

In a statement on Monday, the City of Cape Town said a metro police CCTV operator on Saturday spotted a man in the CBD stealing a spare wheel from a parked car and alerted officers.

When faced with the possibility of arrest, the man undressed himself and began defecating before wiping the faeces on his face.

It, however, did not deter SAPS officers from arresting the man for theft.

“The lengths that some people will go to evade arrest are truly shocking. We are highlighting these incidents to remind the public of the daily challenges that our uniformed staff face in the interest of public safety, not to mention that they put their lives on the line for the rest of us,” said JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security.

In another incident, members of the metro police K9 unit responded to a call about a person selling drugs on a street corner in Kraaifontein. When officers arrived, the man was spotted putting something in his mouth. They asked the man to show what he had swallowed, and he proceeded to spit out five mandrax tablets.

The 48-year-old was subsequently arrested.

On Sunday, during an operation in Site-C, Khayelitsha, two men tried to hoodwink metro police officers when they were found in possession of five cellphones. When they were asked to turn on the devices, they were unable to punch in the security codes to restart the phones.

The two were arrested for possession of stolen property.

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