Pilfered palm tree leads Dutch police to arrest Belgian fugitive who has 18-year sentence to serve

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A pilfered palm tree led to Dutch police detaining a homeless man who was sentenced to 18 years in neighboring Belgium in the death of a man seven years ago.

Police in the southern town of Geldrop said in a statement Tuesday that officers stopped the man Saturday night for questioning when they saw him walking down a street “with a large inflatable palm tree under his arm.”

The fugitive from Belgian justice is believed to have taken the tree from a beach volleyball tournament in the town near the city of Eindhoven, police said.

When the officers checked his identity, they discovered that he was wanted by authorities in Belgium where he must still serve his prison time. The 34-year-old man's identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy rules.

Exact details of his conviction in Belgium were not immediately available. Dutch police said he was sentenced in a case centered on the 2016 death of a man in Zonhoven, a Belgian town some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Geldrop.

The suspect is in detention awaiting transfer to Belgium, police said.