A Christchurch man who claimed he was the victim of a dramatic carjacking is now facing a raft of charges after police allegedly uncovered a stash of weapons and drugs inside his vehicle that he had reported stolen.
The 36-year-old from Burwood rang police at around 5.30am on Tuesday, alleging he had been threatened by an armed man who had forced him to drive to multiple locations before stealing his Volkswagen.
Officers found the man on Chichester St where he relayed a convoluted series of events.
He claimed he had been ordered to drive to several locations at gunpoint, swap keys for a BMW, and then use that car to track his supposedly stolen Volkswagen to Davis St where it was found locked and abandoned.
Police gave the man a lift back to his home to retrieve spare keys, but once the vehicle was unlocked, officers invoked the Search and Surveillance Act to check whether the claimed carjacker had left a firearm inside.
Instead, they found a methamphetamine pipe, a bag of white crystals, a shotgun concealed in a bag, a pistol, one round of ammunition and several knives, batons, and hatchets.
The man was arrested and the items were seized.
He has been remanded in custody and will appear in the Christchurch District Court on November 12 on a raft of charges.
These included making a false statement, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawfully carrying an imitation firearm, unlawful possession of a pistol, unlawful possession of ammunition, possession of utensils, possession of an offensive weapon and failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search.
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