MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. The fourth of the five fugitives who escaped from a temporary detention center in the town of Istra, in the Moscow Region, has been caught, Spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Directorate in the Moscow Region Olga Vrady told TASS.
"Another fugitive, Alexander Butnaru, was apprehended in one of the Nizhny Novgorod region’s settlements on the morning of August 18 during an operation carried out by the local criminal investigation police and the Main Directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry in the Moscow Region," she said, adding that the man would be transported to a pre-trial detention center in the Moscow Region.
Five inmates escaped from the Istra temporary detention center in the early hours of August 6 by unscrewing the locks on their doors. One of them is Alexander Mavridi, charged with murdering the owner of the Meat Empire company Vladimir Marugov. The other four fugitives - Ivan Tsurkanu, Alexander Butnaru, Denis Grozavu and Nikolai Teterya - are natives of Moldova facing charges of theft. Grozavu and Tsurkanu were apprehended later and Teterya surrendered to police.
Additionally, two people were detained for aiding the prisoners’ escape. They are residents of Lobnya and Podolsk who provided money and shelter to the fugitives. Two detention officers have also been arrested. According to investigators, one of the detention officers deliberately turned off the cameras in the corridor, as well as those monitoring the control room. The officers then left the control room and went to sleep. They also left food hatches open, making it possible for five defendants to escape.