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Escape artist back in custody

He can slip through a tiny prison window like Rubberman, but in the end David Charles Weibe couldn’t slip past police.

He can slip through a tiny prison window like Rubberman, but in the end David Charles Weibe couldn’t slip past police.

After more than two weeks on the lam, Whitehorse Correctional Centre escapee Weibe is back behind bars.

And, this time, officials have made sure he’s in a room without a window.

After a tip from the public, British Columbian police tracked Weibe down and found him in Fort Nelson on June 5.

He was driving a Ford truck reported stolen from the industrial area in Whitehorse a few days before, said Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Ross Milward.

When police approached Weibe, he ran into the nearby woods. So RCMP established a perimetre around the area and collared him a short time later using heat-sensing infrared scanning.

He was arrested and returned to the Whitehorse jail by Thursday, July 6.

On Friday, he appeared in Yukon territorial court just long enough to have his hearing postponed.

He was sporting a back eye and his salt-and-pepper coloured hair fell well past his shoulders.

He is scheduled to appear in court again to face an array of charges on July 19, said Milward.

This was the third time the 38-year-old Wiebe escaped from the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

Police believe he slipped between a few broken bars in a dormitory window in the early morning hours of June 19.

He had been housed in the jail for a few months while awaiting sentencing after being convicted of aggravated assault.

Since taking Weibe back into custody, the Whitehorse facility has taken extra precautions to make sure he doesn’t break out again.

While most inmates share dorm rooms, Weibe is now being held in a solitary cell that has no windows, said Whitehorse Correctional Centre superintendent Phil Perrin on Monday.

As of one week ago, police were receiving tips that Weibe was still in the Whitehorse area.

They banged on doors and showed his photo to residents living in the Lobird and McLean Lake area.

At times, RCMP drew their weapons while searching buildings in the area, said residents.

The police search came after a blanket was recently stolen from a resident’s outhouse door. Nearby, an abandoned car seat left in the woods showed signs that somebody was sleeping on it.

Weibe now faces additional charges of resisting arrest and possession of stolen property in Fort Nelson, BC.

The correctional centre’s internal investigation into his escape should be wrapped up this week, said Perrin.