Teenage bank robber re-arrested after escaping police cell

A 19-year-old boy who escaped from Nyamira Police Station on Thursday morning was re-arrested on Saturday.[Strandard, File]

A 19-year-old boy who escaped from Nyamira Police Station on Thursday morning was re-arrested on Saturday night after he was found inside a bank with a knife and pliers.

The boy, who is a Form Three student at a secondary school in Nyamira, had been arrested on suspicion of attempting to steal from the Nyamira branch of the Kenya Commercial Bank. He managed to break out of his cell during a routine clean-up by breaking the ceiling that was part of the cell roof.

Nyamira South Sub-county Police Commander Isaac Sang said the police tracked the suspect using a mobile phone he had shared with another prisoner who was also in custody for robbery.

"We tracked the suspect using a mobile phone he had shared with a fellow prisoner who was in our custody. At the time of the arrest, he was planning a robbery," Sang said.

The boy was awaiting to be re-arraigned in court after the prosecution sought five days from Monday to continue holding him in the cells for them to wind up their investigations. He is expected to face two charges of attempted stealing and escape from lawful custody.