Europe News
German police recapture one of jail-break pair
Nov 29, 2009, 10:58 GMT
Essen, Germany - German police caught on Sunday one of two armed prison escapees who had been on the run and carjacking their way across the country since breaking out of jail earlier this week.
The fugitive back in police custody was Michael Heckhoff, 50, whilst police in Cologne said the other man, Peter Paul Michalski, 46, got away.
The two men fled a jail in Aachen, forcing taxi-drivers and private motorists at gunpoint to drive them to Cologne, Essen and other cities in the Rhine valley.
On Saturday the duo released a married couple they had held hostage for several hours and left with the couple's black BMW 5 car. A member of the public sighted the car parked Sunday in the city of Muelheim-an-der-Ruhr.
Armed police swooped and found Heckhoff nearby, police headquarters said.
Michalski is a convicted murderer. Heckhoff was serving life for hostage-taking. They fled a prison in Aachen near the Dutch border on Thursday. Police have arrested a prison warder, 40, accusing him of helping the two to escape by providing guns and keys.
Police warned motorists and area residents that the escapers were violent and unpredictable and might have nothing to lose, since they had been serving life terms with recommendations against parole.
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