Vic police arrest alleged escapee 20140714 p5sbry.html – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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This was published 12 years ago

Shop worker spots recaptured fugitive

AAP

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A Victorian fugitive has been arrested without incident in a busy shopping centre after more than a week on the run.

The man escaped from one of Corrections Victoria's transition facilities on July 6 after breaking off his satellite tracking device.

On Monday morning, a shop assistant spotted the someone matching his description near a toilet block at the rear of Ballarat's Bridge Mall, about 100km east of Ararat, and phoned police.

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Sergeant Paul Kinna of Ballarat police said the man did not resist officers.

"At 9.20am (AEST) we sent our units and he was arrested in the toilet block after we got a call from a member of the public," he told AAP.

"He was compliant. He was quiet and a bit hungry."

Corrections Minister Ed O'Donoghue said the man will be charged with breaching his supervision order, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

He said the arrest will likely spark a review of procedures at the Corrections Victoria-supervised transition facility for from which he absconded.

"All such incidents are reviewed to make sure procedures worked as intended and to see whether changes should be made," he said.

"In this instance, staff were at the offender's unit within one minute of his GPS bracelet sending out an alarm, and police had been called within three minutes."

The man, and the facility from which he escaped, cannot be named due to a suppression order. 

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