A pilfered palm tree led to Dutch police detaining a homeless man who was sentenced to 18 years in neighboring Belgium in the death of a man seven years ago.
Police in the southern town of Geldrop said in a statement Tuesday that officers stopped the man Saturday night for questioning when they saw him walking down a street “with a large inflatable palm tree under his arm.”
The fugitive from Belgian justice is believed to have taken the tree from a beach volleyball tournament in the town near the city of Eindhoven, police said.
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When the officers checked his identity, they discovered that he was wanted by authorities in Belgium where he must still serve his prison time. The 34-year-old man’s identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy rules.
Exact details of his conviction in Belgium were not immediately available. Dutch police said he was sentenced in a case centered on the 2016 death of a man in Zonhoven, a Belgian town some 40 miles south of Geldrop.
The suspect is in detention awaiting transfer to Belgium, police said.
