A French prisoner who had been on the run for almost a week has been arrested in western Germany, the Düsseldorf prosecutor's office said on Monday. 

German police located the 28-year-old man near the city of Mönchengladbach on Sunday, arresting both him and his suspected female accomplice, who is thought to have played a pivotal role in his escape.

Parking plot

The incident began to unfold Tuesday as the prisoner was being taken from where he was being held to a hospital in the greater Paris area following a faked suicide attempt, French broadcaster BFMTV reported. 

In the parking lot, his accomplice allegedly intercepted the vehicle, threatened officers with a rifle and demanded the man's release. 

BFMTV said it had reason to believe that the accomplice was under the age of 18. She fired at the officers but they were protected by their bulletproof vests and were only slightly hurt, the broadcaster reported, citing police sources.

Cellphone analysis of the couple led investigators to Germany. They had been traveling in a van registered in France and still carried the hunting rifle used in the car park incident. 

Several previous convictions

The man had already been convicted several times in France, including for acts of violence, but had not been classified as especially dangerous. 

The man in question had been incarcerated since the beginning of October. He was being held in custody in connection with the death of an 18-year-old.

jsi/msh (dpa, AFP)