DENVER -- Authorities are searching for a suspect who escaped from deputies at Denver Health Medical Center Monday morning.
Mauricio Venzor-Gonzalez, 23, was being held on a number of charges, including attempted murder and assault of a police officer. Venzor-Gonzalez was the focus of a manhunt last year after he allegedly abducted his ex-girlfriend and her 1-year-old child.
Venzor-Gonzalez escaped from Denver Sheriff's Department deputies at about 6:30 a.m. Police said a worker at Denver Health saw Venzor-Gonzalez run away from the facility.
Denver police and sheriff's deputies set up a perimeter and spent several hours searching with K-9s for Venzor-Gonzalez in the area around Denver Health.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., police said they had completed their active search in the area around Denver Health but Venzor-Gonzalez was still at large.
Venzor-Gonzalez is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark green inmate uniform bearing the letters 'CCMF.' Police said he may be in a blue 1998 Honda with license plates OMH216.
Police said that based on Venzor-Gonzalez's history, he should be considered very dangerous and possibly armed. Anyone who sees him should call 911.
Denver Sheriff Department spokesperson Daria Serna told Denver7 Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent the department a request for a release notification for Venzor-Gonzalez on Dec. 28.
"Our policy would have been to notify ICE once the inmate began the release process," she said in a statement.
