Police knock escaped killer off getaway bike

A police handout picture shows criminal Peter Paul Michalski. Michalski, who managed to escape from the prison in the German city of Aachen last Friday was captured by police in Schermbeck, western Germany December 1, 2009.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's most wanted fugitive was captured Tuesday after a five-day manhunt, when police knocked the escaped murderer off the woman's bicycle he was riding along a rural road near the Dutch border.

Peter Paul Michalski surrendered without a fight after an unmarked police car deliberately crashed into him, knocking him off the bicycle onto the grassy shoulder of the road.

The 46-year-old, who was serving a life sentence when he escaped from prison last week, was carrying a pistol.

Heavily armed police commandos had raided a number of buildings in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia searching for Michalski following his escape from a high-security prison in Aachen. An accomplice in the escape was captured Sunday.

They made a copy of a key inside the jail and simply unlocked several doors to escape, according to German media reports. They even stopped to wave good-bye to a security camera outside the front gate before getting into a taxi.

"Bad luck for you -- we just broke out of jail," the accomplice Michael Heckhoff was quoted telling the taxi driver in his testimony to police, according to a report in Bild newspaper Tuesday. "He said that was no problem for him."

Thousands of police were involved in the hunt and authorities in neighboring countries were also alerted.

Police warned the public the two were extremely dangerous. They stole a car and robbed several people along their escape route through several western German towns and cities.

(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Jon Boyle)