Cops Catch Prisoner Who Cut Off Own Ear to Escape

Accomplices broke man out on way to hospital
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2010 12:16 PM CDT
Cops Catch Prisoner Who Cut Off Own Ear to Escape
A British ambulance is seen in this file photo.   (Shutterstock)

British police today recaptured a man who'd cut off his own ear to escape from prison. The man, 29-year-old Michael O'Donnell of Greater Manchester, went Van Gogh on himself on May 2 while awaiting sentencing for his role in a car cloning crime ring. He was sent to the hospital, but en route his ambulance was ambushed by four masked men in a stolen BMW, according to the Guardian.

The men broke the ambulance's windows with baseball bats, and got the officer who was handcuffed to O'Donnell to release him. But after almost a month of freedom, police tracked O'Donnell down at 12:30am this morning, arresting him and two other men suspected of helping him escape. He's set to be sentenced today. (More escaped criminal stories.)

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