A South-African Man identified as Thomas Ngcobo has been dubbed the country’s “dumbest criminal” after walking into the police station to check on his application to join the police force.
The 40-year-old has been a fugitive for seven years after he was wanted for stealing hardware products worth more than £1,000 that he was meant to deliver to clients in 2015.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said: “The suspect’s dirty tricks were uncovered a week later after the manager decided to check invoices.
“It was realized that two invoices were missing and other material had been delivered to wrong addresses.”
The alleged theft was registered at the Bethal South African Police Service (SAPS) headquartered in the South African province of Mpumalanga in 2015, with Ngcobo being added to the police “wanted list”.
However, seven years later, the suspect baffled police after walking through the front door of the police station to find out why there was a hold-up with his job application.
The suspect was unexpectedly nabbed on Monday, August 15, 2022, after he visited the Bethal SAPS to make inquiries about his application for a police recruitment drive.”
Local media reported that Ngcobo has been held in custody since August 16.
In early 2016, Donald “Chip’ Pugh was suspected of arson and vandalism so a warrant was sent out for his arrest. To help track down Donald, the police of Lima, Ohio shared his mugshot on their Facebook page.
Donald clearly didn’t think the photo captured his best side, so he texted a more flattering selfie to the police department saying “Here is a better photo, that one is terrible.”
Still obviously wanting to repair his reputation, Donald then called into a local radio station to justify his actions.
“Man, they just did me wrong. They put a picture out that made me look like I was a thundercat or James Brown (google it) on the run, I can’t do that”.
Police were delighted with Donald’s help and later arrested him in Florida.