Video footage shows the moment Damon Anderson escaped from Corrections' custody by shimmying down a drain pipe at Waikato Hospital on Monday.
A prisoner has been filmed escaping from the eighth floor of Waikato Hospital, shimmying down a pipe to freedom.
A witness said Damon Anderson, 48, was seen walking through the building in his underwear without handcuffs on minutes before his daring escape.
Police continue to hunt for the remand Spring Hill Corrections Facility prisoner and urge the public to call 111 if he is seen.
A prisoner caught on video making a dramatic escape from the eighth floor of Waikato Hospital was allegedly seen walking through the facility in his underwear, without handcuffs on, just minutes earlier.
Video footage shared with the Herald shows the shirtless inmate clinging to a pipe and shimmying down the outside of the building, descending several storeys. He stops on a ledge briefly before dropping to the bottom of the pipe, then running off to freedom.
“If you see him, please call 111, or alternatively, information can be provided to police online or by calling 105, quoting file number 241223/5693,” police said.
Spring Hill Corrections Facility general manager Scott Walker said the 48-year-old was wearing handcuffs and a GPS monitor when he escaped on Monday, but video footage and witness reports suggest he was not handcuffed during his daring escape.
Spring Hill prisoner Damon Anderson, 48, escaped from Waikato Hospital by shimmying down a pipe.
A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald Anderson was seen walking through the hospital without handcuffs, only wearing his underwear, minutes before he absconded.
“Before that he was actually walking through the second floor of the building in his undies without any handcuffs. Many of the staff witnessed this a few minutes before he was seen escaping.”
He allegedly escaped through a window on the eighth floor of the building.
The witness said staff at the hospital were not aware Anderson was a prisoner.
“There’s a mental health facility next door, so we thought he was a client from there. We didn’t realise it was a prisoner until about 30 minutes after he escaped.
“We were ringing the mental health facility, letting them know that a potential client of theirs was scaling the building, but they hadn’t had anyone escape from there.
“Nobody recalled that he was wearing handcuffs – otherwise we would have known he was a prisoner.”
The witness said it was “shocking” to see a person climbing down the side of the building.
Damon Anderson, 48, escaped Waikato Hospital during a visit from prison. Photo / Police
“It was scary. That is a huge, tall building. If he fell down, he would have died.”
In the video, Anderson appears to be shirtless, and can be seen scaling down a pipe on the outside of the building.
“He is coming down from eighth floor,” an anonymous source told the Herald.
A Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said it had “robust systems and processes” in place at its hospitals to help keep patients and staff safe.
