Four detainees escape from paddy wagon

BOGOR (JP): Four detainees of the Bogor prosecutor's office escaped custody on Friday afternoon after they managed to break loose from the paddy wagon, a source from the prosecutors' office said on Monday.

"The four escaped when the officers were about to drop them at Paledang Penitentiary after a court hearing on Friday at around 4 p.m.," the source said.

Another detainee tried to escape but tripped and fell on his head. He was rearrested with the help of passers-by.

There were four other suspects who were also sitting in the same vehicle, but they did not take the opportunity to flee.

The four escapees, identified as Asep Supriatna alias Dono, 29, Manta, 25, Andi Heriandi, 26 and Asep Saepuloh, 18, managed to force the door open and got out of the van when it was about to cross a railroad track near Paledang Penitentiary on Jl. Kantor Batu.

Asep, a resident of Leuwinanggung in Sukabumi, and Manta, from Leuwiliang, Bogor, were both defendants in a vehicle-theft case. While Andi Heriadi and Asep Saepuloh, both residents of Bogor, were being charged with narcotics offenses.

The four reportedly had just attended the first hearings in their respective cases.

"The vehicle's rear door was not padlocked and was only bolted when the incident took place. I don't know where they got the crowbar to break open the door," the source said.

The paddy wagon was only guarded by an official without any police escort.

Intelligence Unit chief of the Bogor prosecutors' office Salim Zikri refused to comment on the incident.

"I don't have the authority to make a statement. The prosecutors' office chief Ms. Raminda Ginting and other officers are at a working meeting in Bandung," he said. (21/edt)