A 38-year-old man from Ghana who was avoiding a nine-month-and-15-day sentence for assault and resisting arrest was found hiding among life-size figures in a nativity display in Galatone, Puglia. Mayor Flavio Filoni spotted movement in the Piazza Crocifisso tableau and alerted police, who arrested the man and remanded him to a prison in Lecce. The incident prompted commentary about Italy’s presepi tradition, which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has strongly defended.
Fugitive Discovered Hiding Among Life-Size Figures In Italian Nativity Scene
The Ghanaian man was apparently pretending to be one of the Three Wise Men
A 38-year-old man from Ghana who was on the run from authorities was found hiding inside a life-size Christmas nativity display in the southern Italian town of Galatone, apparently attempting to blend in as one of the Three Wise Men.
The man had been convicted by a court in Bologna of assault and resisting arrest and sentenced to nine months and 15 days in prison. After evading capture, he travelled to Galatone in the Puglia region and sheltered in the festive tableau in Piazza Crocifisso.
Mayor Flavio Filoni discovered the fugitive when he noticed movement among the stationary figures while passing the scene. Photographs show the man crouched at the rear of the display, arms extended, positioned among bales of straw and amphorae to the right of statues of Joseph and Mary, beside the crib where a model of the baby Jesus is due to be placed on Christmas Day.
The man was spotted when the mayor noticed a flicker of movement in the festive tableau
“While I was walking past the nativity scene, which was set up by our tourism office, I noticed a figure which I initially thought was part of the scene,” Mayor Filoni wrote. “But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the figure moving.”
The mayor said the man appeared to be "in a state of difficulty" and alerted the authorities. Local police, supported by state police and the Carabinieri, arrested him and remanded him to a prison in nearby Lecce to serve the remainder of his sentence.
In a Facebook post, Mayor Filoni thanked the law-enforcement officers involved: “A big thank you to all the men and women who uphold our security with competence and dedication.”
The episode also touched on a broader cultural debate in Italy over Christmas traditions. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a vocal defender of nativity scenes—known in Italian as "presepi"—and has rejected claims that public Christian displays during the holidays are offensive to people of other faiths. In past remarks she urged Italians to preserve and teach the presepi tradition to future generations.
The man has not been named publicly. Authorities handled the case locally and ensured he was returned to custody in Lecce to complete his sentence.
