Military police capture escapee

Military detention center escapee Lai Han-wei (賴漢威) was caught yesterday in Taoyuan County by police, after he and his father had successfully evaded authorities for nearly three months.

Lai and his father, Lai Ming-ta (賴明達), were arrested in Kuanyin township in Taoyuan County where they were staying at the house of a friend of Lai's father. The owner of the house, Chen Wen-ming (陳文明), was also taken into custody.

The elder Lai was released on NT$200,000 bail later in the day.

When asked by reporters why he had helped his son, Lai said that he did it out of "fatherly love."

Lai's father said that his son had fled the detention center because he was upset with the charges that military prosecutors had brought against him.

Lai Han-wei, an army soldier charged with robbery and who was facing a mandatory death sentence, fled the Hsintein military detention with his cellmate Hsu Chen-hsiang (徐振翔) on June 16. He was imprisoned there while awaiting trial.

The sentence is particularly strict in part because Lai was being judged by the standards of military law, and by the fact that he did not act alone -- a fact that is considered more serious in the military.

Hsu was arrested on June 29 in Taipei after being shot by police in a raid.

A spokesman for the military police investigation unit said during a press conference yesterday that the two were found after checking Lai Ming-ta's social contacts and listening in on phone conversations.

Prosecutor Lo Sung-fang (羅松芳) said yesterday he had signed a search warrant for the house on Wednesday evening after the investigation force was certain that Lai and his father were hiding in the three-story building.

"In order to minimize the possibility of anyone getting hurt, we decided to raid the house during the daytime," Lo said.

Around 11:30am, the investigation force members, who were staking out the house, decided to act when they saw Lai Han-wei smoking a cigarette by a window.

The military police said they first caught Lai Ming-ta on the second floor. He denied that his son was in the house.

Lai was later found on the roof and attempted to run from police but only got as far as a building across an alleyway. Lai had injured his feet when he jumped from the prison wall back in June, and they had not yet healed completely. He was apprehended without resistance, police said.

Hsu said after his arrest that Lai had planned to have himself smuggled out of the country, but investigators are still looking into the claim.

On the night after he escaped, a friend took Lai to a hospital for treatment of his feet, which had sustained bone fractures, but Lai decided that the risk of discovery was too great and afterward relied on home remedies from his father.

Lai was escorted by military police yesterday, unable to walk on his own.

In July the prosecutor indicted seven people who helped to conceal Lai after his escape. Those indicted include his mother, aunt, girlfriend, friends and Lai Ming-ta's friend.

Lo said that it appeared that Lai and his father had been living off the family's savings and that it was unlikely that Lai had committed any crimes during his time as a fugitive.