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| Rédoine Faïd: Jailbreak gangster narrowly evades police | Rédoine Faïd: Jailbreak gangster narrowly evades police |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A French armed robber narrowly avoided capture more than three weeks after escaping from prison, police say. | A French armed robber narrowly avoided capture more than three weeks after escaping from prison, police say. |
| Convicted gangster Rédoine Faïd was spotted by patrol officers near Paris on Tuesday afternoon, police sources told AFP news agency. | |
| He fled the scene and abandoned a car with explosives and fake number plates in a shopping centre car park. | He fled the scene and abandoned a car with explosives and fake number plates in a shopping centre car park. |
| On 1 July Faïd, 46, broke out of a prison with the help of armed accomplices who hijacked a helicopter. | |
| The Jailbird King, as he is dubbed by French media, was serving a 25-year sentence for a 2010 failed robbery during which a police officer was killed. | The Jailbird King, as he is dubbed by French media, was serving a 25-year sentence for a 2010 failed robbery during which a police officer was killed. |
| This was Faïd's second jailbreak - in 2013, he escaped prison for six weeks after seizing four guards as human shields and blowing off several doors with dynamite. | This was Faïd's second jailbreak - in 2013, he escaped prison for six weeks after seizing four guards as human shields and blowing off several doors with dynamite. |
| On Tuesday afternoon, police officers identified Faïd as one of two people in a car "observing a service station", AFP says. | On Tuesday afternoon, police officers identified Faïd as one of two people in a car "observing a service station", AFP says. |
| The officers "wanted to carry out a check on the people in the car", when "they fled the scene and drove towards Sarcelles", a northern suburb of Paris. | The officers "wanted to carry out a check on the people in the car", when "they fled the scene and drove towards Sarcelles", a northern suburb of Paris. |
| When police found the abandoned vehicle with plastic explosives in an underground car park, authorities sealed off the shopping centre and bomb disposal experts were called in. | When police found the abandoned vehicle with plastic explosives in an underground car park, authorities sealed off the shopping centre and bomb disposal experts were called in. |
| "We do not yet know where the explosives were being taken," a senior prosecutor told AFP. | "We do not yet know where the explosives were being taken," a senior prosecutor told AFP. |
| This is the first sighting of the escaped convict since 1 July, after which some 2,900 police officers have joined a national manhunt. | This is the first sighting of the escaped convict since 1 July, after which some 2,900 police officers have joined a national manhunt. |