An awaiting-trial prisoner jumped off the roof of a police station in Limpopo and persuaded officers that he had been injured by a speeding car nearby.
But the 34-year-old man's escape plan was foiled a day later in hospital, when he was recognised as an escapee and promptly arrested on Wednesday.
According to police, the man had been in custody on serious charges, including murder, business robbery, robbery in transit, malicious damage to property, and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
He was found crawling outside the Thohoyandou police cells on Tuesday.