TOMSK, March 5 (RIA Novosti) – Police in Siberia have detained a man they believe stole a metal garage and later traded it for a car, regional authorities said Wednesday.
Officials in Tomsk region said an area resident had earlier reported his garage stolen.
After investigations, police detained a 29-year-old unemployed man as a suspect. Officials said the man had traded the garage for a car, misleading its owner and causing him $700 in damages.
Metal garages in yards of apartment blocks are a standard way in which many Russians stow away their cars. While they are ostensibly designed for keeping cars in, they are also used to store bric-and-brac and items too large for apartments.
Authorities have opened a criminal case of theft and if tried and convicted the man faces up to five years in prison, adding that the man has been released on his own recognizance subject to travel restrictions.
