On The Run For 16 Years… Until He Showed Up At The Olympics

MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) – The writing was on the wall, and if the man’s passion for ice hockey had been combined with his love of Italian music, he might have realized it.

Milan police arrested a 44-year-old Slovak national on Wednesday evening, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued against him by Italian prosecutors 16 years ago, the local Carabinieri police force said in a statement.

To Italians, this incident recalls the plot of the famous ballad “The Bandit and the Champion”, inspired by the early 20th century outlaw Sante Pollastri. This ballad tells the story of a criminal caught at a bike race who, after a years-long manhunt, shows up to watch a childhood friend cross the finish line.

Carabinieri said the Slovak man returned to the country to cover the national hockey team at the Winter Olympics, even though he was on the Italian police’s wanted list.

After checking into a guesthouse on the outskirts of Milan, police tracked down the man and took him to the central San Vittore prison.

Carabinieri said the man, who planned to attend Slovakia’s opening ice hockey game on Wednesday, has 11 months and seven days in prison for a series of shop thefts he committed in 2010.

The Slovakia men’s hockey team made its Milan Cortina Games debut on Wednesday, defeating Finland 4-1 at the Milan Santagiulia Arena.