Woman booked for April Fools’ Day prank on police

The National Police Agency reported on Monday that they received 10 false reports of criminal activity on April Fools’ Day, which fell on Sunday in South Korea.

Among the false reports, a woman in her 40s made a false police report, in which the “nature of the crime was deemed absolutely despicable.” She was booked without detainment, while nine other cases were relayed to the court for summary trials, police said Monday.

The woman called the police on Monday saying that “her child in her husband’s custody is crying.” Police discovered that the woman made the false report in order to harass her husband who lived separately due to a family dispute. 

Dispatched police officers realized that it was a false report upon arriving at the house and arrested her on the spot. 

Another woman in her 40s, who lives in North Jeolla Province, made a false report to the police, claiming that she had “killed someone” with no apparent reason. Her case was relayed to the court for a summary trial.

An intoxicated man in his 60s also called the police, warning them of his plans to “murder his wife” after she did not pick up his phone calls. The man admitted to dispatched police officers that he only wanted the police to find his separated wife for him.

Police said false police reports on April Fools’ Day were filed relatively less on average than that of previous years, where 31 cases were filed in 2013, six in 2014, five in 2015, nine in 2016 and 12 last year.

Police have recently introduced a stricter penal code against citizens who file false police reports, such as a “one strike” policy for even minor cases.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)