Police end Uzbekistani suspect's 'hide and seek'

The Uzbekistani suspect is captured by police in less than six hours after running away from a prosecutors’ office in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. / Yonhap

By Hong Dam-young

An Uzbekistani man who escaped from a detention center at a prosecutors’ office in Gimcheon on Monday was caught by police about six hours later.

The man, 30, was being questioned over allegations of threatening another Uzbek with a weapon and assaulting his girlfriend in downtown Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, in March.

Before questioning, the man was in the Junior Correctional Institution at Gimcheon, a 10-minute drive from the prosecutors’ office.

The escape happened when the man was sent to a detention center behind the prosecutors’ office building after questioning finished around 4 p.m.

The man knocked down an officer who was attempting to handcuff him and escaped.

The prosecutors’ office immediately announced a 5 million won ($4,500) bounty on the man and deployed 250 police to find him. He was caught about six hours later at a nearby apartment.

He was found wearing new clothes and had shaved his beard, officials said.