Handcuffed man escapes 3 guards

Bogor (JP): Ari, a man well known to police for involvement in local auto theft syndicates, left Citeureup Police stunned on Wednesday evening when he escaped from detectives' custody.

As of Friday, the whereabouts of the 20-year-old man, a repeat offender who had just spent two days locked up in the Citeureup Police station, remained unknown.

Local police sources said that Ari, who was handcuffed and guarded by three detectives, was being taken to the nearby Parung area to locate his suspected accomplices.

"Ari, who so far had committed 18 similar crimes, was left alone in a blue Isuzu Panther minivan belonging to one of the detectives," a source said.

"The detectives only knew the of escape after they got back to the vehicle," he said, adding that Ari fled from the car still handcuffed.

But it remained unclear why the detectives decided to leave such an apparently notorious criminal alone with only his hands locked together.

Chief of Bogor Police precinct Lt. Col. Ade Husen could not be reached for comment. (21/ind)