Felony escapee in custody

Travis Sandlin, a multiple felon who escaped from Jeffco county jail on Oct. 5, is now in custody at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office after 11 days on the run.

Sandlin was transported to a hospital after he crashed on Sunshine Canyon Drive on Thursday, Oct. 16.He has been a frequent visitor of the Jefferson County Detention Facility for the last 14 years, authorities said.

“It’s not his first time here,” said Mark Techmeyer, public information officer for Jeffco’s Sheriff’s Office. At the age of 32, Sandlin has gone to county jail in Jeffco since he was 18 years old, Techmeyer said. In 2004, Sandlin was hit with an unlawful sexual contact charge in Arvada and as a result, he is a registered sex offender.

After being picked up by the Arvada Police Department on July 21 on a list of charges totaling 18 offenses from second-degree burglary to identify theft, Sandlin spent almost three months in jail before he decided he wasn’t going to stick around.

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 5, Sandlin escaped from the north tower on the sixth floor at the Jefferson County Detention Facility after busting through wire mesh located in the facility’s multiple recreation yards. From there, Sandlin jumped 15 to 20 feet down onto a roof, and continued descending the tower; jumping nearly 20 feet each time before reaching ground.

He had a 30 minute head start before officials realized he was gone, JSCO reported. An investigation into the jails operating procedure is under way, but no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the deputies who were working the jail the morning of Sandlin’s escape, Techmeyer said.

Authorities at JCSO are wasting no time in fixing the problem in the rec yards.

“This is the first time it has happened to us and it should be the last,” Techmeyer said.JCSO is speaking with several contractors who have come forward to fortify the mesh in which Sandlin was able to bust the welds which attached the mesh to the walls before crawling through the small opening. All of the rec yards in the facility are closed off to inmates.

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