BRIEFS. Crime

Escaped prisoner remains at large

Police have not been able to locate Omar Córdoba, alias Caña, who escaped Friday while visiting a doctor.

Córdoba, who was serving a sentence in La Joya Prison for murder, was visiting a doctor on Tumba Muerto when a group of men overpowered the guard watching him and helped the prisoner escape.

Police spokesman Eduardo Lim Yueng said that searches for the escaped criminal have so far proved fruitless.

The police officer who was guarding Córdoba was injured in the escape, and he is listed in stable condition.

The Dirección de Responsabilidad Profesional has opened an investigation into the incident.

This is the second time that Córdoba has escaped from custody. In 2004, he escaped from La Joyita Prison, remaining on the lam for two years.

Córdoba is a suspect in an attack on a prosecutor in Colón that took place while he was a fugitive. He has also been linked to the murder of four fellow inmates on the island of Coiba in 1998 when it was used as a prison. Three of the victims in that incident were found beheaded.