Vyacheslav Datsik, a world heavyweight champion in mixed martial arts and an icon among ultranationalists, has escaped from a psychiatric hospital and possibly robbed a St. Petersburg cell phone shop, news reports said Tuesday.
A self-confessed pagan, Datsik made a name for himself in the martial arts world before his career was cut short in 2007 when he was arrested for robbing several St. Petersburg cell phone shops.
A court ruled Datsik to be insane and placed him in a prison psychiatric hospital. He was transferred from the hospital to a regular psychiatric facility in the Leningrad region last month.
On Saturday, Datsik tore a hole in a wire fence with his bare hands and fled the facility, news reports said.
A man who looked like him robbed a St. Petersburg cell phone shop of about 7,000 rubles ($226) and a cell phone on Sunday, Fontanka.ru reported.
Datsik, 30, nicknamed “Red Tarzan,” won admiration among ultranationalists with charismatic speeches that promoted white racial supremacy, a law enforcement source told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Police are looking for Datsik.
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