Denver Escaped Inmate: Reward Rises To $10,000

DENVER, CO -- Escaped Denver inmate Mauricio Venzor-Gonzalez now has a $10,000 bounty on his head. The Denver police announced Friday they were upping the Crime Stoppers reward for information related to Venzor-Gonzalez's arrest from $2,000.

Being held for attempted murder, the 23-year old slipped away Monday from Denver sheriff's deputies during a routine medical visit at Denver Health Medical Center around 6:30 a.m. He scaled a fence and disappeared,even though law enforcement officers closed down the perimeter and searched most of Monday.

Then, two men were shot later Monday in a case of mistaken identity, when plain-clothes officers staked out an Aurora residence and chased an SUV with a man mistakenly identified as Venzor-Gonzalez in the passenger seat. That high-speed chase ended up with the SUV crashed in a field near 41st Avenue and Albion Street and the driver of the SUV, Steven Nguyen, 23, dead and his passenger, Rafael Landeros, 23 injured.

Police Spokeswoman, Commander Barbara Archer said police believed they were chasing the escapee and when the vehicle stopped and it appeared the men inside were "looking for something in the back." Officers were justified in shooting into the vehicle, she said. The men in the SUV were identified by Archer as "associates of Venzor-Gonzalez."

Three officers from District 2 fired into the car, Archer said. The officers had been employed by Denver PD for between four and 10 years. Officers recovered a loaded gun in the car, which was stolen. The officers were placed on non-patrol status while an investigation of the shooting will be undertaken by the Aurora Police Department and the Denver County District Attorney's office.

Meanwhile, Venzor-Gonzalez remains at large and is considered "armed and dangerous," Archer said.

"The community is not safe," she said Thursday.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-7867/ (720) 913 STOP. Tips can be left anonymously, and callers can be eligible to receive $10K for their information.

Image via Metro Denver Crime Stoppers