A French armed robber narrowly avoided capture more than three weeks after escaping from prison, police say.
Convicted gangster Rédoine Faïd was spotted by patrol officers near Paris on Tuesday afternoon, police sources told AFP news agency. He fled the scene and abandoned a car with explosives and fake number plates in a shopping centre car park.
On 1 July Faïd, 46, broke out of a prison with the help of armed accomplices who hijacked a helicopter.
The Jailbird King, as he is dubbed by French media, was serving a 25-year sentence for a failed 2010 robbery during which a police officer was killed.