A robbery suspect, who made headlines last year for making a run for it from police, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison on Thursday.

Kim Gil-soo, 37, was arrested in October on charges of stealing a bag containing 740 million won (US$ 549,269) after luring the victim to meet him with the money by pretending to be a client seeking to launder money.

Kim, who was under pre-trial detention at the Seoul Detention Center, ran away while receiving treatment for abdominal pain at a hospital in Anyang, 18 kilometers south of Seoul, after he swallowed part of a plastic spoon.

He was arrested about three days later.

Prosecutors pressed additional flight charges against him.

“The defendant premeditated the crime to repay gambling debts, and he sprayed the lachrymator he had prepared beforehand on the face of the victim who showed up with the cash,” the Seoul Central District Court said.

The court also denounced the suspect for failing to show signs of self-reflection, citing how he had deliberately swallowed a
spoon during police investigations and ran away from the hospital when surveillance was loose.

Source: Yonhap News Agency