Released Hospital Patient Killed In Lakewood Hit-And-Run

LAKEWOOD, CO -- A man killed Sunday in a Lakewood hit-and-run was a hospital patient who had checked himself out, police reported. Kevin Michael Damico, 57, of Denver was struck by multiple cars around 10:20 p.m in the southbound lanes of Wadsworth Boulevard near the intersection of Florida Avenue, Lakewood police said in a statement. Damico was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lakewood police said drivers of some of the cars that hit Damico’s body stopped and remained at the scene. Detectives said they were unsure that any of those vehicles were the vehicle that initially hit Damico.

Damico's mother and sister told television news reporters that they had no idea Damico was released from Centura Health-St. Anthony Hospital earlier that night. Patricia D’Amico, Kevin's mother, told CBS4 she had visited him earlier in the day at the hospital, where he had been admitted for injuries suffered during a fall and seizure. A hospital staffer said her son had checked himself out.

“She says ‘He is not here. He left.’ I said ‘I have his clothes and ID.’ I said ‘I have everything. He has nothing,’” D’Amico said in an interview on CBS.

According to the TV report, Damico's mother filed a missing person report with Lakewood police,who found Kevin and put him in a cab to go home. How Kevin later wandered onto Wadsworth Boulevard has not yet been explained.

According to CBS4, the hospital issued a statement saying patients have the right to check themselves out of the hospital:

“At Centura Health – St. Anthony Hospital, we believe that patients are in control of their health and their decisions about their health. We established a Patient Bill of Rights and Responsibilities derived from both Federal and State regulations which supports patients participating in all areas of their care plan, treatment, care decisions, and discharge. Unless the patient is determined to not have the capacity to think, reason, and understand for oneself, each patient is supported in these Rights and Responsibilities, including their decision to discontinue care. When a patient refuses any drug, test, procedure, or treatment, protocols are followed including informing a patient of the medical consequences of such a decision as well as getting signatures on required forms such as a Patient Leaving Against Medical Advise (AMA), where they accept the consequences of their decision.”

The incident is still under investigation by Lakewood Police, said Spokesman Steve Davis. Detectives are waiting for toxicology reports on Damico to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident, a statement from Lakewood Police said.

Anyone with information about the accident is urged to call Lakewood police at: 303-987-7111.

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