Police officer recognised escaped prisoner, and informed his colleagues

It was supposed to be a normal visit to the Museum of Transport. Instead, a Schwyz policeman suddenly found himself in the Finish area of the Swiss City Marathon – and recognised a fugitive prisoner in the crowd.

Over 6,500 runners, sweat, pain, endorphin, happiness. Sunday in Lucerne was dedicated to the Swiss City Marathon; 25,000 spectators applauded at the edge of the track, acknowledging the athletes in the Finish area by the Swiss Museum of Transport (Verkehrshaus). Their day's work is done.

But one man was still working, even though he was not on duty. A cadre member of the Schwyz Cantonal Police was watching the arrival of the finishers when he spotted a person he knew from earlier. It was immediately clear to the police officer: the man was being sought by the police.

Without hesitating long, the 36-year-old informed his colleagues at the Lucerne Police, and they were able to arrest the Algerian, after a short attempted flight and without any resistance, at the Verkehrshaus bus stop. Three days later, on 3 November, the Zug Office of Corrections announced that: "The prisoner who escaped during a firewood delivery on 9 September 2021 is again in custody in the Zug prison (Strafanstalt)."

Policeman and fugitive knew each other from Schwyz
Shortly after the message has been received, the policeman, who does not want to give his name publicly, says:

"It was really a coincidence that I was there."

He has little to do with running, and is neither a runner nor a regular spectator. Instead, he simply wanted to visit to the Swiss Museum of Transport with his family on the holiday weekend.

Runners at the Swiss City Marathon shortly before the finish at the Swiss Museum of Transport.
Image: Pius Amrein, Lucerne

There, he suddenly found himself in the Finish area of the marathon and noticed the man, who was acting suspiciously in the crowd. Not only that: because the person had previously regularly drawn the attention of  the Schwyz Cantonal Police, the policeman recognised him. And he also knew that his colleagues in Zug were looking for the 42-year-old.

After the intervention of the Schwyz policeman and the arrest by the Lucerne emergency services, the Algerian will now have to serve the remaining 91 days of his prison sentence, from which he had released himself seven weeks earlier: He had jumped from a car near Cham while he was on his way back to the Zug prison after a firewood delivery.

Police officer doesn’t want too much fuss about his action
According to Toni Amrein of the Zug Office of Correctional Affairs, his escape from prison will not have any criminal consequences for the Algerian, because there was no offence to be punished. Nevertheless, there will be some sanctions for him: he has to be closely detained for ten days, and will only be allowed to leave the security cell for one hour a day. In addition, he will change from an open to a closed enforcement regime.

It is unclear what the man was doing at all near the marathon, and neither the Zug, Schwyz nor Lucerne authorities have provided any additional information. The Algerian was in prison for "several thefts, violations of the Narcotics Act and the disregard of area bans," as the Zug Office of Corrections writes in its statement.

Back to the Schwyz policeman: he doesn’t want to much fuss about his deed, and didn’t say much about it when he went back to duty after All Saints' Day:

"It was a matter of course for me to make a report. Even when we're in our free time, we are always on duty a little as police officers."

Nevertheless, his intervention has earned him one or two pats on the back from colleagues – and public praise from Head of Communications Florian Grossmann. On request, he says: "We are pleased that our colleague continued to carry out his duties, even outside his working hours. His exemplary behaviour ultimately led to the arrest of the fugitive."