Dangerous German rapist slips prison guards on beer hall visit
German police were hunting a convicted sex offender and robber Thursday who escaped his prison guards during a day-release visit to a Cologne beer hall.
Authorities admitted the convict, described as dangerous, slipped away during an outing Wednesday while he and one of his guards were in the restaurant's toilet.
"This should never have happened," North Rhine-Westphalia state justice ministry spokesman Detlef Feige told local newspaper the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger.
The convict, named as Peter Breidenbach, had in 1991 been sentenced to a nine-year jail term for rape and serious robbery, and had since then been held in preventive custody.
The 58-year-old fugitive was described as a moustachioed, 1.88 metre (six foot two) tall man wearing cargo pants, combat boots and a blue military sweater.
He was not hand-cuffed when he managed to escape, near the city's famed Gothic cathedral.
Cologne police have battled a wave of criticism since New Year's Eve when they failed to stop men within a mostly Arab and North African crowd from sexually assaulting and robbing hundreds of women.
Related Posts