Arrested man may be forest fugitive James D'Zilva
Megan Levy
January 5, 2011 - 11:34AM
A Victoria Police image of wanted man James D'Zilva.
Police are trying to establish if a man arrested in inner Melbourne this morning is James D’Zilva, the wild-haired itinerant who has been on the run in Melbourne's eastern hills since the stabbing of a policeman almost a month ago.
But officers remain cautious after a false alarm yesterday, when the arrest of a dreadlocked man turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
Superintendent Jeff Forti said detectives were trying to verify if a man arrested Richmond's Swan Street about 10am today was D’Zilva, who allegedly stabbed a police officer in Healesville on December 7.
The man was initially taken to Richmond police station but has since been transferred to another location.
"All I can say at the moment is we have a person in custody and we’re endeavouring to establish his identity,’’ Superintendent Forti said.
"Whether it’s James D’Zilva or not we haven’t confirmed yet. That’s all I can say at the moment. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.’’
D’Zilva, who suffers from schizophrenia, has evaded numerous police dragnets set up to capture him in the Dandenong Ranges since the police officer was stabbed eight times at a Healesville service station.
The 32-year-old, who has distinctive dreadlocks and is usually barefoot, has escaped each time by outsprinting his pursuers and disappearing into the bush.
Police believe he has survived by breaking into numerous homes and shops in the Dandenong Ranges, usually stealing sweet-tooth items including ice-cream and chocolate bars.
He sleeps rough in the bush and is not known to have any other belongings other than the clothes he is wearing.
He also has incredible stamina and was thought to have been covering up to 30 kilometres a night on foot.
But an arrest on Monday night cast doubt on his movements.
Police initially believed they had captured the former private school student but were stunned to discover it was another dreadlocked man.
Both men suffer from schizophrenia, are suspicious of other individuals and are living rough in the same bush area.
"I mean, he’s almost identical to Jimmy D’Zilva, but it’s not him," Superintendent Forti told The Age yesterday.
"We caught him last night and we thought 'Beauty, we’ve caught Jimmy D’Zilva’.
"This bloke, I’ve seen a photo of him, he’s got the dreadlocked hair, he’s dirty, the same height, build, everything.
"The only thing that made him different when we got him was he was wearing hiking boots. Now, we’ve never seen Jimmy wearing hiking boots so one thing led to another, we did some inquiries and we discovered it wasn’t him."
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