Chatham-Kent police say a 19-year-old Wheatley man spent the night in a jail cell after allegedly lying to officers about having his vehicle stolen.
Investigators say the man allegedly lost control of his vehicle at around 2am on May 12 and hit a parked vehicle on Little St. in Wheatley, then fled the scene without notifying police or the owner of the vehicle that was hit.
That crash reportedly caused several thousand dollars in damage to both vehicles.
Police say about half an hour after that crash, the man hit a tree on Klondyke Rd., damaging his vehicle to the point where he couldn't drive it anymore.
Officers say the man was picked up from the scene before police arrived and called them at around 5am that same morning to report that his vehicle had been stolen.
As a result of their investigation into the incident, police arrested a 19-year-old Wheatley man on Thursday, charged him with failing to stop at the scene of an accident and public mischief and held him in custody pending a bail hearing.
