Handcuffed suspect scales 8ft fence to escape police

A handcuffed suspect who escaped from custody while being escorted into a police station fled by climbing an 8ft (2.4m) fence.

Aurimas Butkys, 25, ran off shortly after he entered Boston Police Station in Lincolnshire on Thursday.

Lincolnshire Police has described the escape as "an embarrassing event".

The force said Mr Butkys had been detained on a extradition warrant in connection with an assault in Lithuania.

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Tweeting about the escape, Ch Supt Paul Timmins‏ said the handcuffed suspect assaulted an officer and "jumped an 8ft fence".

Describing the escape as "embarrassing", Supt Phil Vickers said: "Unfortunately, he saw an opportunity and took it, and we weren't able to find him."

He added: "He was handcuffed to the front, which would be a fairly normal position under these circumstances.

"The risk that we had assessed at that time was that he wasn't a risk to the officers.

"Officers have to make an assessment as to what the proportionate use of force is against someone who has been arrested - and in this case we got it wrong."

The force said Mr Butkys is not considered a risk to the wider public as the alleged offence relates to a member of his family in Lithuania.

However, Supt Vickers added: "We need to find out what happened and prevent it from happening again."

Lincolnshire Police is now looking at his associates and the places where he might go in a bid to find him.

The suspect was last seen on Tower Street wearing a dark t-shirt and brown shorts. The force has asked for any sightings of him to be reported.