24-year-old Mike Gielen of Brussels, Belgium is accused of hijacking a helicopter in an attempt to break his wife out of prison.
Authorities say Mike came up with a plan to break his 27-year-old wife Kristel out of prison. Kristel was locked up on suspicion of murdering her ex-boyfriend. According to authorities, Mike booked a helicopter tour, threatened the pilot with a fake gun, and made him fly to the prison. Apparently, the plan was to land in the yard to pick up Kristel and fly away to freedom, but the plan went awry.
“I can confirm that my client admitted that he wanted to free his wife from prison,” said Tom van Overbeke, Gielen’s lawyer. “It seems the whole thing has been staged quite amateurishly.”
The pilot was unable to land at the prison and just kept circling while inmates cheered and waved and Mike… got motion sickness and started throwing up out of the helicopter door. Worst of all, he actually booked the helicopter tour under his real name, so he was arrested within 24 hours.
Mike is now facing several charges including theft with violence, participation in a criminal organization, and attempted escape.
