Looking for a puppy? Notorious Greek fugitive can help

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-24 09:38

ATHENS - Families in Greece seeking to adopt a puppy with a little more pizzazz got their chance this week after one of the nation's most notorious fugitives gave up his pets following his arrest.

Puppies for sale in a shop. Families in Greece seeking to adopt a puppy with a little more pizzazz got their chance this week after one of the nation's most notorious fugitives gave up his pets following his arrest. [Agencies]

Convicted bank robber Vassilis Paleokostas already had a Robin Hood-style credo amid reports that he gave part of his loot to the poor but added an animal lover's twist during his arraignment on Friday.

"I have two pups," Paleokostas shouted out as he was taken to a prosecutor in the northern city of Salonika, the semi-state Athens News Agency reported.

"They are famous pups, somebody who loves animals should take care of them."

Paleokostas, 42, was among eight men arrested this week over the kidnapping of a prominent industrialist in June.

With his elder brother Nikos, they formed one of the most successful criminal duos in Greek history, boasting a long record of bank robberies, prison breakouts and narrow escapes from arrest.

Police finally caught up with him in 1999, but he escaped again in 2006 when his brother sprang him out of high-security Korydallos prison in Athens using a hijacked helicopter.