Inmate becomes first to escape jail outside Denver

Officers were searching for an inmate who escaped Sunday night from the Jefferson County Detention Facility in Golden, Colo., just outside Denver, authorities said.

Travis Sandlin, 32, broke out of the jail's maximum security pod, Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, told The Denver Post.

"We consider anyone who escapes from jail to be dangerous," she said. "We not only rarely have someone escape from the jail, we've never had anyone escape from the jail."

Sandlin was behind bars on a variety of offenses including burglary, trespassing, theft, motor vehicle theft and felon in possession of a handgun, the newspaper says.

Kelley said she couldn't talk about how Sandlin was able to get out.

Sheriff's officials notified local transit officials because there's a light rail station nearby, Kelley told the Post.

A K-9 unit is part of the team looking for Sandlin.