There are few events that foster a feeling of national pride more than the Olympics, but that desire to support one’s nation led to a lapse in judgement from a wanted man in Italy.
A 44-year-old from Slovakia, who had an outstanding warrant in Italy for shopping thefts from 2010, traveled to the outskirts of Milan to watch the Slovakian team in the men’s hockey competition. His arrival at a guesthouse led to an alert to police, who arrested him Wednesday and brought him to the central San Vittore prison where he faces a sentence of 11 months and seven days for those crimes committed 16 years ago, per a statement from the Carabinieri police force (via Reuters).
The man, whose name was not made public, was arrested prior to Slovakia’s opening 4-1 win against Finland, which meant he did not get to watch his home nation triumph in a major preliminary round upset.
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There are few opportunities for fans to watch their national team play in Olympic competition, and even fewer that don’t require a lengthy and expensive trip. For this man, the reward of seeing Slovakia compete in the Olympics was enough to outweigh the risk of the outstanding warrant for his arrest in Italy.
His gamble didn’t pay off with a trip to Milan’s Santagiulia Arena to watch the hockey competition, and instead he’ll serve a pending sentence of nearly a year in a Milan prison.
If there’s any silver lining for the man, his beloved Slovakian hockey team also beat host nation Italy on Friday to improve to 2-0 in preliminary action.
