Cheeky car thief breaks in, steals, leaves his ID behind

A cheeky thief who allegedly broke into a parked vehicle and stole goods worth over $300 had his short memory to blame after he forgot his national identity card.

This came out when Trevor Moyo appeared before Binga magistrate Stephen Ndlovu facing theft charges. The court heard that on 29 October at around 11 am, the complainant Samuel Makundu parked his Toyota Corolla at Siabuwa business centre.

He then locked all doors and windows before leaving. Moyo, who was clandestinely monitoring every move made by Makundu from a distance, immediately went for the vehicle as soon as he entered a shop.

He allegedly broke the window and jumped into the car where he forcibly removed a Sonny car radio and took a hand bag which had money and identity documents.

In the process, Moyo forgot his identity card and a wrist watch which was later used by the police to track him down.

During cross examination, when the accused was quizzed how he forgot the items, he said he did not know what really hit him during the escapade.

He left the court in stitches when he further denied the allegations saying he had no idea how the stolen items had got to his house. As if that was not enough to expose Moyo's puzzlement, he claimed that had he met the demands of the law enforcers he could be free now.

"I was arrested because police wanted me to pay them a bribe of $1000 plus a laptop which I didn't have," Moyo said. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded in custody to 14 November where the magistrate is expected to hand down the final judgement.