UPDATE: Two young men who escaped Lookout Mountain youth detention facility are in custody after a short car chase, according to Golden police. They will face additional charges related to their escape.
State officials will make process and protocol changes after two teen sex offenders escaped a state detention facility early Monday morning.
The two apparently used bedsheets to climb down from a broken window.
Nineteen-year-old Javier Madera and his 17-year-old roommate were last seen between midnight and 1 a.m. Monday when a guard let them go to the bathroom at Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center in Golden, according to police.
An officer didn't notice anything wrong during a perimeter check at 2:21 a.m. But about three hours later, the officer saw a dumpster turned on its side and sheets hanging out a window on the building's second floor.
Police say the teens are both sex offenders with gang affiliations.
The Golden Police Department took over the search and investigation. The Colorado Department of Human Services, which runs the juvenile center, is also conducting a thorough internal review.
The escape comes less than a week after a riot broke out at the state-operated detention center.
There have been five other escapes in the last year from the facility.
“In regards to recent incidents at [Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center], CDHS has made changes and is continuing to look at process and protocols,” the center said in a news release. “As part of the internal review, security protocols are being examined with the intention of instituting change where necessary.”
Officials said staffing at the time of the escape was at “required levels.” Department of Human Services officials did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment.
Child safety organizations expressed concern over the use of force and solitary confinement at the center. A staff member was arrested in April on suspicion of storing child porn images on his Twitter account.
The Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center holds 140 male juvenile offenders.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
