Captured fugitive was traveling by bicycle with another man

A 30-year-old man recaptured after escaping from a police station in Osaka Prefecture last month had likely been traveling on a stolen bicycle with another man who was unaware of who he was, police said Sunday.

Junya Hida was with a 44-year-old man who had been traveling by bicycle across Japan when he was arrested at a roadside shop Saturday after having been on the run for nearly seven weeks, according to police.

He was allegedly stealing food when arrested at the shop in Yamaguchi Prefecture, hundreds of kilometers to the southwest of Osaka, after arriving there on a bicycle he stole in Osaka. He was arrested again Sunday by the Osaka police on suspicion of aggravated escape.

Police said they identified Hida by fingerprints and a tattoo on his leg, and that he was wearing a windbreaker and sneakers, and only carrying a few hundred yen.

Hida had been with the man on a cycling trip since the two met about three weeks ago in Ehime Prefecture, though they did not spend all the time together.

The 44-year-old man told the Osaka police that he was aware of the news of a suspect escaping from a police station in Osaka but did not know that Hida was that person.

According to the police, the man said he had not wished for Hida to join him on the trip and had found his company "annoying."

Also Sunday, the Yamaguchi police arrested the 44-year-old man on suspicion he had stolen a bicycle in Wakayama Prefecture.

The Osaka police are investigating Hida"s movements since fleeing and other details of his escape. He has refused to answer questions since his capture, the police said.

Originally arrested for alleged rape and other crimes, Hida was being kept at the Tondabayashi police station when he broke out of a room where he had met with his lawyer.

He was put on a nationwide wanted list and police had mobilized about 4,000 officers to search for him.

A native of Matsubara, Osaka, Hida apparently smashed an acrylic panel separating his lawyer and himself in the meeting room of the police station and left from an unlocked door on the lawyer"s side of the partition, according to the police.

The police had removed batteries from an alarm on the door of the meeting room at the station, thinking the device unnecessary as visiting lawyers usually notify the police when they leave.

Hida told his lawyer after a 30-minute consultation around 8 p.m. that he would notify the officers of the end of the meeting so the lawyer did not need to do so, the police said.

Police officers who are usually on duty inside a room next to the meeting room were not present during weekends or late hours.

The police did not provide initial notification of the escape until about nine hours later, and it took another seven hours before they asked the city of Tondabayashi to warn the public through its community wireless system.

Hida was first arrested in May for allegedly being in possession of a stolen motorbike in Osaka. He was later indicted on charges of rape, theft and robbery resulting in injury, and the latest charge was attempted rape.

Soon after Hida went missing, a black moped was stolen near his parents" home in Matsubara and police received reports of four women having their bags snatched at night by a man on a moped during the following three days.

The police are investigating his potential involvement in the cases, according to the investigative sources. He has been indicted for allegedly snatching purses in a similar manner.

© KYODO Source: https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Captured-fugitive-had-been-traveling-by-bike-with-another-man