Mayor fakes death to avoid arrest for flouting Covid-19 lockdown

A mayor in Peru pretended to have died from coronavirus and hid in a coffin to avoid arrest after breaking lockdown to drink with friends.

According to multiple reports, Jaime Rolando Urbina Torres put on a face mask and lay down in the coffin when officers came to detain him during an alcohol-fuelled night with his friends.

His friends are alleged to have hidden in drawers.

It’s unclear where the party took place or why there were open caskets close at hand.

Torres allowed this stunt to go a little too far because police even shared a photo of him lying in a coffin with his eyes closed, and a mask over his face.

Torres was eventually arrested, adding to the laundry list of criticism he has come under since Peru went under lockdown more than two months ago.

He has been accused of breaking quarantine rules in the past and leaving town in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Officers were able to awaken Torres and take the group to the station for questioning, though it’s unknown if charges were preferred.

Peru has the 12th most Covid-19 cases in the world, as of Thursday, with over 108,000. More than 3,100 have died from the virus in the country.