A state hospital patient who was found not guilty by reason of insanity on a first-degree assault charge fled from the facility this morning for the third time, officials said.
Allen Gary Martinez, 42, of Westminster, was listed on escape status at 9:25 a.m., said Eunice Wolther, spokeswoman for the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo.
Martinez had earned the right to go off hospital grounds, but did not return to the hospital, Wolther said.
Forensic patients move from high security to lower security wards by doing well in therapy and on medication and by following rules. They are committed from one day to life at the hospital.
“When the patients are in a controlled environment and are taking their medications, we feel they are not a danger, but there is a potential for them to be a threat to public safety when they are not in the controlled environment,” Wolther said.
Martinez is 5-foot-1 and was last seen wearing a Harley shirt, tan pants, boots and sunglasses, she said.
Martinez was committed to the hospital May 4, 1995, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
He was sentenced to one year in prison for escape after fleeing from the hospital May 23, 2003, CBI records show.
He was charged with attempted escape on Oct. 23, 2006, according to CBI records. The disposition on the case is not known.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
