A 27-year-old inmate was arrested in New Taipei on Tuesday after failing to return to prison in Hualien following an approved temporary release.
Lu Tsung-lung (???) was arrested by the Railway Police Bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade at around 5 p.m. Tuesday in an internet cafe in Xizhi, New Taipei, according to the bureau.
Lu was given permission to leave the prison and see his family in outlying Kinmen County on Feb. 11 but was scheduled to return by 8 p.m. Monday, said deputy warden Chen Chang-mu (???) of the Zihciang Minimum-Security Prison in Hualien.
Chen said Lu's return was postponed because his scheduled flight back to Taiwan was delayed, which forced him to take a later flight.
After arriving in Taipei, Lu should have taken a train to Hualien, Chen added. He was spotted on security camera footage at the airport and Nangang Station, where he was seen buying a train ticket.
The prison first contacted Lu's family but they did not know his whereabouts. It then informed Taiwan Hualien District Prosecutors Office that Lu had exceeded the limit of his temporary release. As a result a warrant was issued for his arrest, Chen said.
After further checking footage from over 100 cameras in Taipei and Hualien, Lu was seen getting off the train at Xike Station in Xizhi District, New Taipei.
Lu was originally sentenced by Fuchien Kinmen District Court to 32 months in prison for being involved in fraud and theft. He was transferred to the Hualien prison on Aug. 30, 2021, to serve his sentence.
Since then, Lu has been granted temporary release five times and had less than one year of his sentence remaining before the most recent incident, Chen said, adding that the inmate applied to be released on parole last November but was rejected.
The incident is the third in the past 12 months and the second this year involving inmates on temporary release.
Kang Yu-hao (???), who was granted temporary leave in March 2022 but did not return to the Hualien prison, reportedly slashed someone with a melon knife in July that year. Currently, he remains at large though his two alleged accomplices in the attack were arrested.
The high frequency of inmates on temporary release failing to return has sparked concerns over loopholes in the Statute of Open Prisons.
In response, the Ministry of Justice suggested Tuesday evening that the statute should be amended and requested that correctional institutions do a better job of vetting applicants for release.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel