AURORA — After two men who were detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Aurora escaped earlier this week, we received conflicting reports about what happened. Denver7 spoke with several experts to get some answers.
Joel Jose Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 32, and Vido Romero Gueilond-Jose, 24, allegedly escaped from the Aurora ICE processing center late Tuesday and are still at large as of Thursday afternoon.
Denver7 is now following up with ICE, the City of Aurora and the Aurora Police Department to get answers to the questions we have heard from our viewers.
Watch our report on the new information we gathered on Thursday — including an updated timeline of events — in the video below.
Q. What charges were the two detainees originally facing when they were brought into the detention center?
A. This information was not provided by ICE. Denver7 reached out to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, who confirmed Vido-Romero was arrested on Feb. 26 by Lone Tree police for misdemeanor theft and resisting arrest. ICE picked him up from the jail on Feb. 27, according to the sheriff's office.
We have not yet confirmed the charges that Gonzalez-Gonzalez was facing when he was brought into the detention center.
Q. How were the two inmates able to escape the facility?
A. According to Aurora police, a power outage on Tuesday night caused the doors of at least one exit to become unlocked.
Q. When did the employees at the ICE facility realize the two inmates were missing? When did they notify police?
Aurora police provided a timeline for the alleged escape on Thursday morning.
This is what they provided to Denver7:
- 9:30 p.m. Tuesday – Power goes out at the ICE GEO facility, causing the doors of at least one exit to become unlocked. ICE officials begin emergency head count.
- 10 p.m. Tuesday – Estimated time ICE GEO officials believe two detainees escaped, according to the original 911 caller from ICE GEO.
- 12:30 a.m. Wednesday – Emergency head count completed. ICE GEO officials confirm two detainees are missing.
- 2:30 a.m. Wednesday – ICE GEO officials call Aurora911 to report a possible escape of two detainees and request APD response. Due to the lack of information in the initial call, an APD watch commander called ICE GEO officials to clarify the limited and unclear information in the original call notes. During the call with ICE GEO officials, the watch commander learned the escape happened approximately four and one-half hours before it was reported to police. It was determined the timeline of events did not meet the definition of a “hot” escape report, in accordance with the MOU. The call was queued for follow-up.
- 5:15 a.m. Wednesday – Aurora patrol officer responds to ICE GEO and meets with facility officials to take a report.
ICE has not provided a timeline of events. However, a spokesperson said in a statement that “local authorities were notified immediately and declined to assist with the search.”
Q. Why did Aurora police not immediately assist with the search once they were notified about the escapees?
A. Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky explained that if the men had been held on "criminal detainers," the police department could have provided immediate assistance after they were notified. However, both men were being held on "civil detainers," and there are state laws that prevent Aurora police from assisting under those circumstances, she said.
In an interview on Thursday, she stressed that Aurora police should have been notified about the escape earlier.
The Aurora Police Department has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ICE GEO, which lists the guidelines that both parties have agreed to regarding calls for service from the facility. The MOU lists those guidelines and officer positions for both "hot" escapes and "cold" escapes.
"Hot" escapes are reported within 15 minutes of the escapee. A "cold" escape is defined as one that is discovered during head count, or beyond that 15-minute range. ICE GEO officials are still required to report "cold" escapes to police.
“We received late notification about the incident and upon response learned the event occurred several hours prior,” Aurora police said in a statement to Denver7. “The Aurora Police Department is available to assist our federal partners with active public safety emergencies. As a municipal law enforcement agency, we do not enforce federal immigration law and cannot participate in large-scale searches or follow ups.”
Q. Are the two men who are on the run considered a danger or threat to the public?
A. While ICE has not responded to our requests regarding this question, Metropolitan State University Criminal Justice Professor Henry Jackson, Jr., who has experience working in corrections for over a decade, said any detainee who escapes a detention facility, no matter what charges they were facing, could be considered "unsafe" or a "threat" to the public.
It is not yet clear if either man has a history of violence.
Q. What charges could the two men be facing after escaping the GEO facility?
A. The inmates will likely face felony charges for escaping the detention center, according to Henry Jackson Jr.
Q. Has ICE issued criminal warrants for the two men's arrests?
A. ICE has not responded to our inquiry as of Thursday afternoon. Aurora police said once warrants are issued, officials in Aurora can assist with apprehension.
Q. Do we know anything else about these two men?
While limited information is available, we do have descriptions of the men.
Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 32, is described as being 5-foot-7, 165 pounds with short black hair, brown eyes and a tattoo on both arms. ICE says he entered the country illegally from Mexico in February of 2013. ICE arrested him on Feb. 12 after making contact with him at the Adams County Jail on Jan. 8.
Gueilond-Jose, 24, is described as being 6 feet tall, 185 pounds with short black hair and brown eyes. He allegedly came into the U.S. illegally from Venezuela in December of 2023. ICE arrested him on Feb. 27. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office told Denver7 its deputies arrested Gueilond-Jose a day earlier on charges of theft and resisting arrest. An immigration judge had ordered him to be deported a week earlier.
- Denver7 sat down with retired Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock to discuss the intricacies of local law enforcement when it comes to immigration enforcement in the state of Colorado. Watch the conversation with Denver7 anchor Jessica Porter in the video below.
What's the role of local law enforcement when it comes to assisting ICE in Colorado
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