1 detention house escapee captured; 2 remain at large

Li Haiwei, one of the three fugitives, is restrained by the police after being caught on Wednesday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

One of the three men who escaped from a detention house in Heilongjiang province on Tuesday was arrested on Wednesday, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday night.

The arrested fugitive - Li Haiwei, 29 - broke out of the detention center in Yanshou county after he and two others, Wang Damin and Gao Yulun, allegedly killed a guard.

3 Chinese inmates kill guard, break out of jail

They left the detention facility clad in police uniforms.

The police captured Li at about 8:15 pm near Yushan village, Yanshou county, according to Xinhua.

As of press time on Wednesday, police were still searching for the two other fugitives.

More than 1,000 police officers had been hunting the three escapees; a helicopter was also deployed for the search.

Police promised a cash reward of 150,000 yuan ($24,400) for information leading to any of the fugitives.

Li was awaiting sentencing for homicide before he escaped. Gao was in the detention center while his death penalty sentence for homicide was being reviewed. Wang was awaiting sentencing on a charge of intentional injury, according to earlier reports.

With Li now in custody, authorities expect to learn how they managed to get through several doors that are supposed to be heavily guarded.

Yi Shenghua, a criminal lawyer in Beijing, said that the three fugitives will face much harsher punishments now.

"It can be said they committed new crimes as they served their original sentences, so what they will get is a combined punishment for several offenses," Yi said.

"Prosecutors may accuse them of homicide or violent jailbreak, as they allegedly killed a guard before escaping."

Under Criminal Law, people who commit several offenses will be sentenced based on the more severe crimes.

"In other words, the three escapees will be prosecuted again with the new charge and wait for more serious punishment," he added.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

Gao Yulun, Li Haiwei and Wang Damin (from left) are accused of killing a guard and escaping from a detention center in Yanshou, Heilongjiang province, on Tuesday.