Gangster Blows Up Prison Doors, Busts Out

A French gangster inspired by movies like Scarface and Heat broke out of prison yesterday and sparked a manhunt across Europe, CNN reports. Redoine Faid, 40, briefly held four guards hostage and blew up several prison doors before fleeing in a getaway car. He later set fire to his car and left two hostages standing on a highway, reports AFP. His current whereabouts: unknown. "He is remarkably intelligent, and he is using his intellect to serve his ambitions," said Faid's lawyer. "He cannot stand being imprisoned anymore."

Faid spent 10 years in prison for robbery before he achieved celebrity in 2010 with his autobiography, Robber: From Suburbs to Organized Crime. But he was back behind bars a year later, suspected of organizing an armored-car robbery that left a policewoman dead in a shootout. Now an estimated 150 French police are after him, Interpol is involved, and warrants have been issued in 26 countries. Authorities say Faid's wife visited him yesterday and may have smuggled explosives into the prison—a claim her lawyer vigorously denies. (More Redoine Faid stories.)