Man in Osaka indicted on drug charges arrested after two days on the run

Japan Times -- Nov 12

Two days after he fled in Osaka Prefecture, prosecutors on Monday caught a man indicted on drug charges who escaped while being transferred to police custody after his bail was revoked.

Ryotaro Oue, who was indicted for using illegal stimulants and possessing marijuana, was apprehended by the Osaka District Public Prosecutor’s Office on a bridge over the Yodo River in Osaka.

Authorities had been searching for Oue since his escape from a vehicle on Saturday, during which two male officials suffered minor injuries while trying to restrain the 42-year-old man.

A male acquaintance who sheltered Oue was also arrested by investigators on suspicion of harboring a fugitive.

According to investigative sources, a man resembling Oue’s description was spotted in a car on Sunday morning in the city’s Sumiyoshi Ward, located a dozen or so kilometers from where he escaped, as he attempted to shake off his pursuers.

The same vehicle was also seen traveling along a number of expressways before being abandoned in a parking lot in Kita Ward.