A burly man, 1.90 meters tall, in shorts and no shirt, waits, with his hand on his waist, for his dog to do its business in a corner. The animal walks around the back of a house, near a gray exposed brick wall. Next to him, in a kind of open field, there are several vehicles separated. Suddenly, the side door of a white van, parked two cars away, slides open and three police officers in street clothes come out, running towards him. One wears a bulletproof vest on the outside and a balaclava. “Police, stay still! Police! They shout at him. The shirtless man, who is wearing flip-flops, flees towards a nearby house, but cannot enter the house. Before they put him in shackles.
The Police arrested last Wednesday in the municipality of (Tenerife, 87,793 inhabitants) a particularly dangerous fugitive, whom the Polish authorities are demanding to serve a sentence for a range of crimes totaling 485 years. Among the 40 criminal acts for which he is being investigated, there are crimes against people, drug trafficking, scams and illicit manufacture and possession of weapons.
The fugitive, with the initials LK and 40 years old, reacted almost immediately as soon as he saw the agents. But those who organized his arrest were already counting on that to happen. Since last September, the first time he had been detected on the island, he had already managed to successfully escape twice.
The five police officers who got out of the white van were agents specialized in high-risk actions, from the Special Operational Security Group (GOES). LK did not give up when he found himself pinned down. His behavior was “in spurts,” police sources say. “There was a lot at stake,” they add. When a fugitive from justice has a considerable list of pending cases, he may be tempted to commit a crime at the time of his arrest, such as assaulting an officer, and thus try to stay. The agents went with that mentality.
In the images of the arrest, released this Monday by the Police, you can see how they stand around the arrested person and sit him on a tile. They changed his shackles and led him to the police car, in movements in which a lot of tension can be seen.
Agents specialized in detecting fugitives had been tracking this fugitive since September, when the Polish Police asked them for help due to suspicions that he could be in Spain. The first time they saw him was that same month. He lived with a woman, with whom he was in a romantic relationship, and her two children. However, LK sensed something strange and ran away. He even jumped from a back balcony, five meters above the ground.
In February, LK also found himself in trouble at a police checkpoint. The Arona Local Police officers stopped him and he showed false documentation. As the agents showed doubts, he sensed that they might try to arrest him and began to flee in which he dragged several vehicles.
After these attempts, the fugitive tried to make it a little more difficult, but he did not leave the place. He continued living in Arona, but in a semi-urban, almost rural area. He settled in a house on a dead-end street with views of the countryside, so he could detect if anyone was approaching. He lived alone and went out very little. However, last Wednesday none of his protective measures could save him. Although he remained alert and did not leave the house, the open door did not guarantee his escape. They ended up arresting him, the third time.
