Court gives Moroccan man 58-day sentence for fleeing in Vilnius

Vilnius City District Court on Monday sentenced Moroccan citizen Issam Toubali to 58 days of arrest for fleeing from police officers escorting him, LRT reported.

The 23-year-old escaped on October 13, when he was brought to court for a hearing in his criminal case. The court found that he ran through an open gate in the court’s inner courtyard and hid in Vilnius until police found him on Debesijos Street later that evening.

According to testimony given during the investigation, Toubali asked to use the toilet after arriving at the court’s escort facilities, and officers removed his handcuffs. As they were taking him to a police vehicle, he asked again to be accompanied to the toilet. Near the vehicle, he suddenly clutched his stomach. When a female officer bent down to check on him, he pushed her to the ground, injuring her hand and leg, then ran away.

Officers chased him through the courtyard gate towards a Pigu.lt store and into a nearby grove, but lost sight of him among the trees. Police found him later that evening.

The court credited time already spent in custody towards the 58-day sentence, so he is expected to serve less time. Toubali may still challenge the court’s criminal order, which states that he admitted guilt.

On October 26, the same court convicted Toubali of theft and imposed an arrest sentence. He will not serve additional time for that offence because he had already served the sentence while in custody. The theft case concerned a break-in at a shop in the Šeškinė district in May, when he took 1,700 euros from a cash register. He has been in custody since August.