A violent patient whose escape highlighted problems at the state mental hospital in Pueblo was in the Pueblo County jail Thursday awaiting return to the hospital, authorities said.
Tyrone Jones, 44, was arrested Sunday after authorities pulled him over on U.S. 50 in Pueblo West for driving a car with a busted headlight, hospital spokeswoman Eunice Wolther said Thursday.
Authorities did not know where he obtained the vehicle or where he has been since his escape in March.
He was committed in 1988 with a record that includes stabbing a fellow inmate and sexually and physically assaulting patients and staff.
Jones contacted The Denver Post the day of his escape, saying that he walked away because he felt unsafe and that staff had retaliated against him for reporting that a hospital employee was bringing in “contraband” to patients.
He never explained what sort of contraband he meant and didn’t indicate his whereabouts in his phone call to the newspaper.
“That was an allegation made by Mr. Jones; it was investigated and unfounded,” Wolther said.
Items that would be considered contraband at the mental hospital are guns, drugs, alcohol and cellphones.
Jones’ escape and an alleged tax- fraud scheme involving inmates and staffers resulted in a comprehensive review being conducted by the state.
Jones escaped while walking outside the facility with other patients. Records provided by Jones show he was born in jail after his mother killed his father while pregnant with him. He has been either hospitalized or in prison since 1983, when he was found sane and convicted of aggravated robbery.
Legally, he has been considered insane since 1988, when he stabbed a prison inmate. His latest escape from the hospital was his second in two years, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell contributed to this report.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at mgonzales@denverpost.com or 303-954-1537.
