Dilip Kuner
A SEA search was launched in Spain after a man threw himself into the ocean when Guardia Civil tried to stop him for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules.
The man made a run for it in the Tenerife town of Las Galletas when officers asked him to identify himself after spotting him out and about carrying a bag.
Ignoring orders to stop he reached a rocky outcrop on the shore and plunged into the sea.
Officers saw him submerge then reappear, swimming with difficulty before clinging to a rock.
But by the time they arrived at the spot he had disappeared.
Fearing the worst, Guardia Civil immediately launched a search and rescue mission.
Mountain Rescue and GREIM frogmen, Coast Guards, Local Police, Civil Protection and a helicopter scoured the area for hours but could find no sign of him.
That evening (April 12) Guardia Civil received a report from a woman saying her husband had failed to return home from a walk. The missing man’s description matched that of the fugitive who had disappeared.
Early the next morning the search was continued only for it be called off when the man turned himself in at the police station around noon.
He told officers he had hidden in a cave while the search went on around him, finally returning home at about 11pm.
He was arrested on suspicion of serious disobedience to agents of authority.
