DENVER – Police say they are still following up on leads as they search for a man accused of attempted murder who escaped Monday from Denver Health Medical Center. It is the man’s second time on the run.
“We are seeking the communities’ help for information,” Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson told Denver7 Investigates reporter Jace Larson. “There is no significant update.”
Commander Barb Archer said at an afternoon news conference regarding a related police shooting that arresting Venzor-Gonzalez was the department’s “top priority” and that officers were “pursuing any information” they could get.
“We have no idea where he is,” Archer said. “If we did, we’d already have him in custody.”
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 September after he allegedly abducted his ex-girlfriend and her one-year-old child.
Jackson did not have a number of tips from the public that the department had received since this latest escape. The department has cautioned that Venzor-Gonzalez is a dangerous man.
Remember the guy who escaped from deputies while at Denver Heath Medical center this week? Where the heck is he? Just checked with @DenverPolice & @DenverSheriff. Both still don't know. They are tracking down leads, PD tells me. pic.twitter.com/K8CXX0bpwL
— Jace Larson Denver7 (@jacelarson) March 22, 2018
Daria Serna, the spokesperson for the Denver Sheriff's Department, said that the deputies who were transporting Venzor-Gonzalez have been removed from the transport rotation during the investigation but still work in the Court Services department of DSD. The deputies typically rotate between court services and transport services, Serna said.
Officials had several run-ins with Venzor-Gonzalez last year including a high-speed chase in the Pueblo area, which Venzor-Gonzalez eventually escaped. Police later found his abandoned car.
Venzor-Gonzalez escaped from Denver Sheriff's Department deputies at about 6:30 a.m. Police previously 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.
Venzor-Gonzalez is described as 5-foot-7and 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.
— Denver Sheriff (@DenverSheriff) March 19, 2018
Police are also expected to hold a 1:30 p.m. news conference to give an update on a deadly police shooting connected to Venzor-Gonzalez's disappearance.
