Pilfered palm tree leads Dutch police to arrest Belgian fugitive who has 18-year sentence to serve

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch police say a pilfered palm tree led them to detain 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. They saw him walking down a street “with a large inflatable palm tree under his arm.” He is believed to have taken the tree from a beach volleyball tournament. Officers who stopped him discovered that he is wanted by authorities in Belgium. Dutch police say he was sentenced in a case centered on the 2016 death of a man in the Belgian town of Zonhoven.