Russian media recently reported the bizarre case of a young man with no means of supporting himself who went to extreme lengths to make sure he had a roof over his head and at least one meal per day. Referred to only as Oleg, the 20-something man from the Republic of Bashkortostan, successfully got himself arrested and sent to prison for making bomb threats.
After graduating from high school, Oleg had served in the military and had recently tried to secure a job in the Russian city of Ufa, but failed to do so after numerous attempts. With nowhere to live and no money to feed himself, the young man became so desperate that he came up with a plan to get himself thrown in prison.
Last summer, after spending three days trying to find a job in Ufa, Oleg went to a hotel and threatened the staff that he was going to blow the place up with a bomb in his backpack. Despite locking himself in a room and screaming that he had a bomb, no one believed him, so he opened a window and jumped out, heading straight for the nearby airport.
His second attempt was successful. In the middle of a terminal of Ufa airport, he held up his backpack and started screaming hysterically that he had a bomb. He demanded that police and negotiators be called and warned everyone to stay away from him until they arrived. Security staff eventually noticed that there were no wires or bomb detonators visible, so they rushed Oleg and held him down until police arrived.
No explosives were found, and Oleg casually admitted that he knowingly lied so he could get arrested. A psychiatric evaluation found him to be of sound mind and fully responsible for his actions. Just as he had planned, he was thrown in jail and a court of law recently sentenced to three years and two months in a penal colony, where he will enjoy at least two meals a day and a roof over his head.
“The defendant was aware that he was providing false information about an impending explosion and that this information could cause panic, fear, anxiety, and compromise public safety, and he intended to do so. A knowingly false report could have created a danger of loss of life, significant property damage, and other socially dangerous consequences,” the Court verdict read.
Interestingly, this isn’t the only case we’ve ever featured of people who voluntarily got themselves arrested. A few years ago, we wrote about a man who stole so he could get arrested because he couldn’t afford to be free, and about a sick, lonely man who begged authorities to send him to prison.
