‘Forest Rambo’ eludes German police

BERLIN >> The call to German police Sunday seemed a bit odd but routine enough. A man armed with a bow and arrow had been squatting illegally in a small shed outside the village of Oppenau in the foothills of the Black Forest.

When four officers arrived, Yves Etienne Rausch, 31, greeted them calmly while seated behind a table in the red shed. He handed over his bow and arrow, and a spear that was by his side. But when officers asked to search him, he drew a gun, threatened one policeman at point-blank range and demanded their weapons.

Then he ran.

And for three days and three nights he has evaded capture despite a manhunt that has involved more than 1,500 police officers and attracted a growing online following. A Facebook page set up in his honor has more than 1,000 subscribers, and the manhunt has become a running story in Germany’s tabloids, which refer to Rausch as “Forest Rambo.”

The search has turned into an embarrassment for the highly trained and wellequipped state police, who have admitted that they are at a disadvantage against a single foe who had extensive local knowledge and the ability to survive for an extended period of time in the 2,100-acre forest.

“The forest is his living room. That’s why — given the impassible and at times steep terrain — it is difficult for us to find him quickly,” said Offenburg police commissioner Reinhard Renter at a news conference Tuesday, noting that police had time on their side.