By O’Dell Isaac

A juvenile offender with an extensive and violent criminal history was on the run for nearly a day after escaping from a mental health facility in Colorado Springs, law enforcement officials said.

The teen, whose name was not released, was considered “armed and dangerous,” police said.

At about 4:25 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to an emergency call about a motor vehicle theft in progress at the Emily Griffith Center on Farragut Avenue, off Pikes Peak Avenue near Memorial Park. Witnesses told arriving officers that a teen resident had “forcibly” taken a set of keys from his caretaker before running out of the facility and stealing the caretaker’s vehicle.

The teen has a history of violence and vehicle theft, including arrests for felony menacing, two counts of attempted 1^st-degree assault for pointing guns at police, and an attempted homicide stemming from an incident in which the owner of a car confronted a group of teens suspected of stealing it, according to police.

Police designated the teen “armed and dangerous” because of his history of gaining access to guns by breaking into cars, particularly certain Kia and Hyundai models. He’s reportedly proficient at such “Kia Boyz Challenge” thefts, authorities said.

Police said the teen was arrested and vehicle recovered shortly before 2 p.m. Monday in a parking lot in the 1600 block of South Circle Drive.