Jail warden still recovering German inmate’s hostage attempt

THE Talisay City police will wait on the jail warden’s decision on filing charges against a German who held him hostage for several minutes inside the Talisay City Jail in barangay Maghaway at 9 a.m. last Wednesday.

SPO1 Mikie Espina said they are keeping in touch with Chief Insp. Gil Inopia Jr., the Talisay City jail warden who is recovering from the trauma after he was held hostage by 39-year-old German Thomas Michael Ruhland.

Ruhland was arrested on charges of qualified trafficking and child abuse in a raid at a motel in Feb. 2, 2011. Espina said two Germans visited Ruhland prior to the incident.

Ruhland requested to talk with Inopia at his office which he readily agreed to.

Ruhland reportedly expressed his frustration at being detained for nearly three years.

The German managed to hold him hostage by pointing an improvised knife on his neck.

Ruhland managed to keep the jail personnel at bay and demanded that he be given a weapon and a car so he can escape.

Espina said Inopia managed to divert Ruhland’s attention enough to allow his men to overpower and disarm the German. One of the jail officers, SJO1 Joven Galman, injured his fingers during the scuffle with Ruhland.

The Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC) voiced their relief over the incident.

PWC Gender and Development Officer Hedda Largo said Ruhland poses a threat to the families of the two minors who filed a criminal case against him two years ago.

She said the two girls are under the custody of the regional Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“In these times, it pays not to relax the security in the facility where the girls are staying,” Largo said. Correspondents Gabriel C. Bonjoc and Peter L. Romanillos