AURORA | Immigration officials confirm that three detainees at an Aurora detention center escaped Sunday afternoon, prompting a search assisted by local law enforcement.
Amiclar Aguilar-Hernandez, 23, from El Salvador; Douglas Amaya-Arriaga, 18, from Honduras; and Carlos Perez-Rodriguez, 18, also from Honduras, are still at-large, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency spokeswoman.
The three detainees reportedly scaled a 15-foot chain link fence, according to ICE. They then were “able to overcome a wall in the recreation area to effect their escape.”
An Aurora police spokesman confirmed that they had been asked to assist in the search for the at-large detainees but said the department could not speak to anymore details.
Aguilar-Hernandez has a criminal conviction for felony trespassing and is a suspect in a rape case at Fort Carson Army Base, but he doesn’t seem to have any connections to the military, according to ICE spokeswoman Alethea Smock.
The detainees escaped the facility located at 3130 Oakland St. Sunday at around noon.
GEO Group Inc., the private company that owns and operates the detention center for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, declined to speak about the incident. They referred questions to an ICE spokeswoman.
It’s unclear how the detainees were able to make the escape through the recreation area without being stopped. No further details were available on the on-going investigation.
Earlier this month, an ICE government watchdog report announced investigators found that Aurora was among four immigration detention facilities that experienced poor conditions, including inadequate outdoor recreation space.
“We observed enclosures inside detainee living areas with mesh cages at the top to allow in outside air…Further, detainees we interviewed at Aurora and Essex stated they wanted true outdoor recreation for the fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, and for playing soccer with their fellow detainees,” according to the official report.
The visit took place in November.
In a statement about the findings, GEO said the findings identified were “swiftly corrected last year.”
The three missing detainees are now wanted on federal criminal warrants for the escape.