Belgium arrests British con man wanted by France for injuring police officers
- Robert Hendy-Freegard, 51, has been on the run since August, when he hit two officers with his Audi A3 in a remote village in central France before speeding away
- Hendy-Freegard, who featured in a Netflix documentary, faces charges of attempted murder of a public official, which carry a maximum 30-year prison term
A British con man who featured in a Netflix documentary and was wanted in France after injuring two police officers while fleeing a raid has been arrested and held in Belgium, police and prosecutors said on Saturday.
Robert Hendy-Freegard, a 51-year-old former bartender, has been on the run since late August, when he hit two officers with his Audi A3 in a remote village in central France before speeding away.
Earlier this year, he was the subject of a three-part Netflix documentary The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman which appeared to have brought about the raid in France.
Hendy-Freegard was detained on Friday near Brussels, a spokeswoman for the Belgian federal police told Agence France-Presse.
Belgian prosecutors confirmed he appeared before a magistrate in Brussels on Saturday and was placed in detention pending his extradition to France.
Hendy-Freegard faces a European arrest warrant issued by France and must appear in court in Belgium within 15 days.
The prosecutors said they did not know if he would contest the extradition.