The Denver inmate who was apprehended late last week five months after he escaped during a prisoner transport appeared in court Monday morning.
A judge set a $500,000 cash only-bond for Mauricio Venzor-Gonzalez at the hearing. If he makes bond, he'll have to wear an ankle monitor, according to the order.
At the time of his escape, Venzor-Gonzalez was being held on attempted murder charges.
Venzor-Gonzalez was taken into custody Friday afternoon by officers from the Denver Police Department, Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force and Thornton Police at Creekside Place Apartments on Gale Boulevard in Thornton. The complex is 13 miles away from Denver Health.
During a joint news conference in March, Denver Police Department Commander Henning said they received a call at 6:34 a.m. on March 19 from someone who saw Venzor-Gonzalez running from Denver Health. Around the same time, they were notified of Venzor-Gonzalez's escape from sheriff's deputies, the Denver Sheriff's Department said.
Venzor-Gonzalez was being held for attempted murder after he allegedly shot at a police officer in November following a traffic stop. He got away but was found two days later in Aurora suffering from three gunshot wounds.
Before that, Venzor-Gonzalez was wanted in the suspected kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and their one-year-old child.
On the evening of March 19, two people possibly connected to him were chased by police from a home under surveillance in Aurora. That high-speed ended in a crash in northeast Denver and the suspects were shot. Their relationship to Venzor-Gonzalez has not been released.
The sheriff's department said Venzor-Gonzalez was at Denver Health for a scheduled appointment of some kind. Police said they are looking into whether he had handcuffs or any other restraints on at the time of his escape.
Denver Sheriff Patrick Firman told 9NEWS that Venzor-Gonzalez had been previously sought by immigration officials for possible deportation. On Dec. 28, 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent the Denver Sheriff's Department a request for release notification for Venzor-Gonzalez. The sheriff's department's policy would have been to notify ICE once he began the release process.
