A potentially dangerous criminal escaped police custody in a Bruges hospital this morning, leading to a manhunt by federal police
A prisoner escaped from a hospital in Bruges this morning, leading to a manhunt involving a federal police helicopter and search dog. The 30-something Russian national was incarcerated for aggravated robbery.
The man was taken to the Sint-Jan hospital for an outpatient procedure and managed to escape during a change of clothes. He was wearing ankle cuffs, which are still attached to one of his ankles. He is in possession of a sharp object.
“We are searching for him with all available manpower,” said Lien Depoorter of the Bruges police zone. The hospital went on lock down for a time, but was opened back up once it became clear that the inmate was no longer inside.
Crazy eyes
“The prisoner checked himself in surrounded by four police officers,” Roel Vandenbroucke, a patient in the day clinic, told VRT. He suddenly started running, according to Vandenbroucke, eventually taking to a stairwell, with an agent on his heels.
On his way, he ran in the direction of Vandenbroucke’s mother, Bernadette. “I was sitting in the waiting room when he started racing around, with the cuffs still attached to his ankle. The look in his eyes was just crazy, he looked like a really hardened criminal.”