Australian fugitive surrenders after 3-decade beach stay

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian police say a fugitive walked into a Sydney police station to give himself up almost 30 years after he used a hacksaw blade and bolt cutters to escape from prison. Darko Desic lived in a Sydney beach community during those years before surrendering Sunday morning. Media reports say he decided to go back to prison because Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown made him jobless and homeless. Desic had been in prison for growing marijuana. The reports said he escaped because he thought he would be deported. He was born in the former Yugoslavia and feared he would be punished for failing to do his compulsory military service.