Pilfered Palm Tree Leads Dutch Police to Arrest Belgian Fugitive Who Has 18-year Sentence to Serve

Police officers on patrol in a shopping street in The Hague, Netherlands, on Nov. 26, 2021. Pierre Crom/Getty Images

THE HAGUE, Netherlands—A pilfered palm tree led to Dutch police detaining a homeless man who was sentenced to 18 years in neighboring Belgium in the death of a man seven years ago.

Police in the southern town of Geldrop said in a statement Tuesday that officers stopped the man Saturday night for questioning when they saw him walking down a street “with a large inflatable palm tree under his arm.”