Man asks police to charge his phone gets arrested as a fugitive

A 24-year-old man who stopped at a police station to charge his phone was taken into custody as a fugitive. The Polish man was wanted by German authorities for skipping out on a three-year prison sentence.

He visited the police station on Veerweg in Bergambacht, Zuid-Holland at about 8 a.m. on Sunday. The man “urgently wanted to charge his phone,” police said.

“This was no problem,” the police replied, but they also took the opportunity to check the man’s identity. That’s when they discovered he was on the run.

Dutch authorities did not disclose the crime for which a German court convicted him. “The man was immediately arrested,” Dutch police said.

When someone is taken into custody on a European arrest warrant, the suspect can either consent to extradition or challenge the process. If they consent, they must be surrendered to the relevant country within ten days.

“The country where the person is arrested has to take a final decision on the execution of the European arrest warrant within 60 days after the arrest of the person if the person does not consent to the surrender,” the European Commission states on its website.