Police launch manhunt for teenager who escaped from custody

Police in Nairobi have launched a manhunt for a defilement suspect who escaped from Industrial Area Police Station via the toilet. Mr Erickson Khata, escaped from the police station located in Makadara Sub-County at 7am on Thursday, July 28, never to be seen again. Two police officers at the station filed a report on the Occurrence Book (OB) saying that Mr Khata who has engaged police officers and the courts in several cat and mouse games leading to his transfer from Nairobi Remand Maximum Prison back to the station took advantage of being alone and fled. “Mr Khata had requested the officers to take him to draw water for bathing outside the cells. The officer left him at the common room bathing and went back to the report office,” reported the two officers identified as Mr Paul Omar Abdalla and Mr John Njau Mugo and who were on duty when the incident took place. However, the officers were perturbed when the suspect took a long bath in the common room and they became suspicious. Mr Njau rushed to where he had left the suspect but found him missing. They carried out a quick search within the station but he was nowhere to be found. He immediately alerted his colleagues on what had taken place and they all decided to launch a manhunt around the station but did not manage to find him. The 19-year-old was nabbed by police officers and arraigned before a Makadara Court on July 19, 2022 and his court file police said is number 212/2022. It was then ordered that he be taken to prison. However, while at the prison, he complained that he was a minor and was taken back to court where an order was issued for him to be escorted to hospital for age assessment. “He was later escorted back to the Industrial Area police station before he was taken to Mbagathi hospital where a test was done and it was established that he was 19-years-old,” the police report further read. According to the police, he realized that there were plans to take him back to court and he is suspected to have launched a plan on how he will escape from the prison. Nairobi News has also established that Mr Khata’s personal details which include his home and residential area have been updated on the list of wanted persons in Kenya.