 Prison escapee gets life sentence
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-25 07:27 Xie Wanli, who escaped from a prison by smashing through the gate with a crane in Baoding, Hebei province, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday, Yanzhao Metropolis Daiy reported yesterday. Baoding intermediate people's court said the 28-year-old Xie was convicted of escaping from prison and endangering public security. His brother, Xie Wanchun and a friend, Zhao Yajun were convicted of harboring a criminal. They received prison sentences of three years and one year respectively. Two years ago, Xie was sentenced to 18 years in prison for robbery and kidnapping. He broke out of prison during the night in March. He pretended to go to the toilet, but opened the prison's garage with a self-made key and drove away a crane. He used the crane to smash down the prison's gate and then fled. A prison warder named Gao Bin was slightly injured in the escape. The crane careered into four vehicles before coming to a stop. Police set up roadblocks at major intersections of the city, and a helicopter was also used in the hunt. Prison authorities offered a 100,000 yuan ($14,700) reward for information leading to Xie's capture, and later raised it to 150,000 yuan. Xie remained at large for five days before arriving in his hometown of Langfang where he contacted his elder brother who hid him in a wasteland. Later, the elder brother and his friend Zhao, picked up Xie in a truck to take him to another city. The police had been monitoring phone calls of Xie's close friends and relatives and managed to arrest him in Zhang Jiakou, another city in Hebei. Xie was caught on March 18, six days after his breakout. China Daily (China Daily 07/25/2008 page4) |
