Viewers were shocked to see a prisoner dramatically escape from a hospital detention unit by climbing several floors up an external pipe while wearing only his underwear.
Damon Anderson, who was shirtless and also appeared to be barefoot, was captured on film sliding down a rectangular tube on the outside wall of Waikato Hospital in the northern New Zealand town of Hamilton on Monday.
On Tuesday he was still at large.
Anderson, a Spring Hill Correctional Facility remand prisoner, can be seen sliding four stories and after taking a brief rest on the first floor window sill, he finally manages to climb to the ground.
Once on the ground, Anderson initially appears to be in no hurry as he walks away, but then begins to jog as he leaves the hospital grounds.
Although Anderson is not considered a risk to public police, they have warned anyone who sees him not to approach him but to call them.
Spring Hill Correctional Center General Manager Scott Walker said Anderson was handcuffed and wearing a GPS monitor when he escaped.
However, video footage and witness reports suggest that Anderson was not handcuffed during his acrobatic escape.
Remand prisoner Damon Anderson can be seen making his dramatic escape from a New Zealand hospital on Monday.
Anderson remained at large and New Zealand police warned the public not to approach him.
An anonymous witness said it was “shocking” to see a person come down from the building.
‘It was terrifying. “It’s a huge, tall building,” he said.
“If he fell, he would have died.”
The witness also told the New Zealand Herald Anderson was seen walking around the hospital without handcuffs, just in his underwear a few minutes before he ran away.
“Before that he was walking around the second floor of the building in his underwear and without handcuffs,” the witness said.
Many staff members witnessed this a few minutes before they saw him escape.
Anderson allegedly escaped through a window on the eighth floor of the building where the hospital has a custody unit.
However, the witness said hospital staff seemed unaware that Anderson was a prisoner.
‘There is a mental health center next door, so we thought it was a client from there. “We didn’t realize he was a prisoner until about 30 minutes after he escaped,” the witness said.
“We were calling the mental health center, informing them that a potential client of theirs was climbing the building, but no one had escaped from there.
A spokesperson for Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora said it had “robust systems and processes” in place in its hospitals to help keep patients and staff safe.
“We are working closely with the New Zealand police and prison system to help prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the spokesperson said.