Swiss Tipped Off U.S. to Polanski

Swiss police arrested director Roman Polanski after tipping off the U.S., documents have revealed. Previously, it was assumed that the Swiss police arrested Polanski, who fled justice after pleading guilty to a 1997 statutory rape, at the behest of the U.S., but evidently emails from the Swiss federal office of justice show that they alerted the U.S. to the fact that Polanski was the favorite to win an award at the Zurich film festival, and asked if the U.S. wanted him arrested. Federal officials told the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, which drafted a warrant, and four days later Polanski was in custody in Switzerland. The U.S. has until Nov. 25 to file extradition papers to get Polanski into the U.S.