Overview
- The 33-year-old soldier who fled the Tarbes courtroom during sentencing on March 23 was arrested in Ille-et-Vilaine after nearly three weeks on the run.
- He escaped by vaulting the defendants’ box, sprinting through the building, and forcing open the courthouse’s glass entrance door.
- After his arrest, he was placed under formal investigation for the escape and ordered into pretrial detention, and he will now begin serving the earlier 16-month term.
- Prosecutors say he tried to drive off during the arrest without endangering officers or other road users, and he later declined to explain his flight to the investigating judge.
- Investigators are examining how he stayed hidden without money, bank cards, or a phone, with local reporting saying he kept contact with his children during the flight.