Saturday, May 27, 2006

Thief nicks Nissan with no brakes

A bumbling car thief was arrested Thursday after the brakes of a Nissan Primera he stole from a repair shop failed, causing him to rear-end an SUV, and investigators believe he may have heisted the car to help pay a court-ordered fine from his car-theft conviction one month ago.

The suspect, a 24-year-old native of Kabardino-Balkaria, was arrested after fleeing the accident near a car repair shop on Proyektiruyemy Proyezd, near the Yuzhnaya metro station, in southern Moscow, city police spokesman Valery Buzovkin said Tuesday.

According to Buzovkin, the shop was overloaded with cars brought in for paint jobs after several fender-benders in the area Thursday afternoon, and the suspect was hanging out there with his flatmate, who worked at the shop.

After looking over several cars in the lot, the suspect found the Nissan Primera with the keys in the ignition and decided to steal it, Buzovkin said.

"What he didn't know is that it wasn't there just for a paint job," Buzovkin said. "It needed to have its brakes repaired."

The first intersection after he pulled out of the lot proved to be the downfall of the suspect, who immediately realized he could not stop and slammed into the back of an SUV, Buzovkin said.

"He fled the scene of the accident, but detectives showed up quickly and were able to establish the identity of the thief," Buzovkin said.

The suspect was arrested later that day and has since confessed to the crime, he said.

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