The 24-year-old patient fled the Rheinberg clinic on Wednesday morning, according to police. He then found a roadway and stopped a car. He forced the 45-year-old female driver to give him clothing and cash before he asked her to drive him across the border to Venlo in the Netherlands.
Police are not sure what happened to the mental patient for the next several hours, but Dutch authorities were able to apprehend him by Wednesday afternoon, they said.