Suspect in leg irons outruns cops
A DARING Victoria Falls man outpaced cops and took a suicidal dive into the deep gorges on the Zambezi River while in leg irons.
Stanley Muzamba (33) from Chisuma Village under Chief Mvuthu outside Victoria Falls town made the dramatic escape as he was being taken to crime scene indications on Friday last week.
Police officers assumed he had died, only for him to surrender himself at Victoria Falls Police Station on Tuesday.
The leg irons that he had failed to remove had started cutting into his swollen flesh.
Muzamba appeared in court yesterday facing one count each of unlawful entry, theft and escaping from lawful custody.
Victoria Falls magistrate, Ms Rangarirai Gakanje, did not ask him to plead and remanded him in custody to next week Thursday for trial.
The court heard Muzamba had been taken for indications at the gorges area in Chisuma where he had allegedly hidden a TV set he had allegedly stolen from a local hotel where he was once employed.
He denied stealing the television set in his warned and cautioned statement.
“I went to the police station on Thursday for finger prints and I spent the whole of Friday being assaulted as they forced me to admit that I stole the TV,” said Muzamba.
The court heard that Muzamba broke into a local lodge and stole a 32-inch television set.
Police picked him up after investigations and he allegedly escaped while in leg irons.
The prosecutor Mr Listen Nare said: “On Wednesday last week the accused who is an ex-employee at Africa Premier Safaris unlawfully entered into the premises through a window and stole a 32 inch TV set and a piece of soap.”
“The accused was later arrested and he offered to do indications and recoveries in Chisuma area where he said the stolen goods were hidden. He was secured with leg irons and while he was making indications, he escaped and went into Jembwe Gorges.”
The court heard that the cops failed to locate him and went back to the station. Muzamba allegedly turned up at the Victoria Falls Police Station after breaking the chain joining the cuffs but failed to remove them from around his ankles. The value of the stolen goods is $451 and only the soap was recovered.
BY Nonsikelelo Moyo
