Police are looking to locate a prisoner who escaped Corrections custody while on a visit at Waikato Hospital yesterday afternoon.
He is the second prisoner to escape Corrections staff at Waikato Hospital in a month, with a 25-year-old allegedly assaulting staff and carjacking a vehicle during a medical appointment in November.
The remand prisoner from Spring Hill Corrections Facility, named by police as 48-year-old Damon Anderson, “absconded from Corrections staff while on a hospital visit at around 1.30pm on Monday.
Spring Hill Corrections Facility general manager Scott Walker told 1News he was handcuffed and wearing a GPS monitor at the time.
Walker said police “were informed immediately and are actively searching for them”.
“Public safety is our top priority. Any escape is unacceptable and an immediate review into how this incident occurred will be carried out.”
Police said while Anderson was not considered an “immediate risk” that the public should not approach him and report any sighting.
Anyone with relevant information should contact police on 111 or on 105.
