The National Police are looking for a dangerous thief who fled from the Arenal police station after being arrested on May 17 for assaulting a tourist.
The offender, a 21-year-old Algerian, approached the victim from behind at Balneario 6 in Playa de Palma and used the so-called lion-killing technique to strangle and rob him. The events occurred at 2.45 a.m. in the early hours of the morning.
Plainclothes officers, who were patrolling the area for the start of the summer season, observed the assault and immediately arrested him. The robber, who has at least 15 previous convictions for theft, burglary and robbery with violence, was taken to the local police station, where he spent the night in the cells.
The following day, assisted by a lawyer, he made a statement at around 14.00 hours in an office at the police station. The young man took advantage of the situation to jump out of the window from a height of about two metres, according to sources close to the investigation, and escaped. Police officers have made a number of raids in the area, but have been so far unable to locate him.
The search for the dangerous offender continues. The escape has been reported to all the units of the Citizen Security Brigade, which is concentrating on hunting the criminal down.
Investigators link him to the 'house of terror', located at number 63 Calle Manacor, in Pere Garau (Palma). The house was boarded up at the end of last September after having been used as a large squat for several months.