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'Dead body' in Uber prank leaves police fuming

Police have slammed a prank, where someone tried to put a fake dead body into the boot of an Uber in Brisbane’s western suburbs, as a waste of police resources.

Police said an Uber was called to a unit block on Oxley Road at Sherwood around 9.30pm on Tuesday.

A man met the driver and then tried to put what looked like a body into the boot of the vehicle, causing the driver to flee the scene and call police.

Police have slammed a ‘fake dead body’ prank as a waste of police resources. Source: 7 News
Police have slammed a ‘fake dead body’ prank as a waste of police resources. Source: 7 News
Police spent most of the rest of the evening and into Wednesday conducting investigations before confirming it had been a prank. Source: 7 News
Police spent most of the rest of the evening and into Wednesday conducting investigations before confirming it had been a prank. Source: 7 News

Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said as a result, police spent most of the rest of the evening and into Wednesday conducting investigations before confirming it had been a prank.

“I get that some people might see this as funny; self evidently, we don’t,” Supt Fleming said on Wednesday.

“It’s not that we don’t have a sense of humour, but as a result of the events of last night we have had significant resources tied up in investigating whether someone had been abducted or murdered.”

He said the “crime scene” was realistic enough, with splatters of what looked like blood on the walls and floor of a garage.

Police said the ‘crime scene’ was realistic, with splatters of what looked like blood on the walls. Source: 7 News
Police said the ‘crime scene’ was realistic, with splatters of what looked like blood on the walls. Source: 7 News

It’s understood the prank is a copy of several which have been carried out in other parts of the world and posted online.

It’s also not the first time the prank has been attempted in Brisbane, with a similar incident occurring around a fortnight ago in Brisbane’s New Farm Park.

In that case, the Uber driver quickly realised the body wasn’t real, and although police were called there wasn’t a prolonged investigation like in the most recent incident.

A 27-year-old man has been speaking to police about the prank, and Supt Fleming said they were looking into whether he could be charged with false representation, causing a police investigation which carries a maximum fine of $13,055.