Sunday, February 08, 2009

Man beat himself to get day off work

A 34-year-old man was the victim of a violent beating in broad daylight in downtown Kingston on Friday. Police aren't hunting the culprits. They charged the victim, who, it turns out, assaulted himself.

"He's now been charged with one count of public mischief," said Staff Sgt. Mike Attwood, who was shaking his head over the bizarre incident.

It began just after 9 a. m., when police were called to a retail shop on lower Princess Street where a man reported an assault. The employee told police he'd been jumped by two brazen bandits while walking on his way to work. The pair landed blows in a bid to steal the victim's wallet. "He had a very swollen lip, a bloody nose, maybe a broken nose," Attwood said.

The obvious injuries spurred a police manhunt. Officers rushed to the area where the man had been walking. A tracking dog unit was called in. The victim gave a detailed statement and description of his attackers.

Police could find no sign of the culprits and no witnesses and they began to see inconsistencies in the man's story. Officers asked him to go over the story again and, after some pressure, he broke down and confessed that he had concocted the story of being jumped by unknown assailants.

"He admitted that he gave himself several shots in the face to appear that he'd been attacked," Attwood said. The mugging tale was a ruse to get the day off work, the man told police.

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