LAKESIDE, Colo. — A 17-year-old has been found after he escaped from the Platte Valley Youth facility in Greeley and stabbed a correctional officer while at the dentist’s office, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials were searching for Juan Ocegueda in the area of 5801 W. 44th Avenue in Lakeside. A shelter in place was issued in the area of Chase to Gray streets between 44th and 41st avenues. Police were conducting yard to yard searches.
The sheriff's office said Ocegueda was located just before 2 p.m. around 43rd and Eaton in a home's garage. The homeowner was not home at the time. The suspect is in custody.
Cell phone video from a nearby homeowner shows the moment following the arrest of 17-year-old Juan Ocegueda. He is accused of stabbing a correctional officer at a Lakeside dental office and escaping earlier today. He was still wearing the leg shackles, police say. @DenverChannel https://t.co/C2h1QgP34S pic.twitter.com/7RymLrw4tC
— Pattrik Perez (@PattrikPerez) May 31, 2022
Ocegueda was wearing a white shirt and tan pants at the time of the escape and was described as between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-9, between 118 and 130 pounds, and he has black hair and brown eyes.
He was considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff's office said. Initially, the sheriff's office didn't know what the teen used as a weapon but later confirmed it was a knife and not a dental tool. Ocegueda should have been patted down prior to being transported as part of standard procedure, the sheriff's office said.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department said the incident occurred when Ocegueda was being taken to the dentist's office, however, the sheriff's office later said the stabbing happened during a dental procedure. The teen, who was not handcuffed but was shackled at the feet, then left through the back of the dentist's office.
The correctional officer was stabbed multiple times, but the sheriff's office said the officer was standing and talking when going to the ambulance. He does not have life-threatening injuries, the sheriff's office said. He has been released from the hospital.
No one else has been hurt.
The Colorado Department of Human Services explained why the teen was transported from Greeley to Lakeside, saying that when the Division of Youth Services has a person who needs dental care that cannot be provided in a youth center, they are transported to a dentist willing to provide care to youths in secure custody. Not all communities have this.
The Greeley Police Department said its officers have dealt with Ocegueda multiple times, but those records were not immediately available.
