Police say four inmates have escaped from Hale Nani Correctional Facility in the past month, two in separate incidents this past weekend. Police say four inmates have escaped from Hale Nani Correctional Facility in the past month, two in separate
Police say four inmates have escaped from Hale Nani Correctional Facility in the past month, two in separate incidents this past weekend.
The most recent escapee, 20-year-old Joshua Christopher Kalili of Honaunau, allegedly walked away from the facility on Sunday between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m., police said in a written statement. Kalili is described as 5-foot-9, 180 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts. He is not considered dangerous.
“One of the things that people need to understand is that this is not a maximum-security facility; it’s an open facility,” said Toni Schwartz, state Department of Public Service spokeswoman. “That means a lot of the guys don’t even live there. They check in once a week, like they’re supposed to. Some of them live out in the community. Some of them do live there. The last count they had was 114 living in the men’s unit.”
Schwartz said that Kalili was housed in the men’s unit. He was sentenced by a Kona judge last year to 18 months in jail and 10 years probation on numerous burglary charges and one count of robbery. Schwartz said that Kalili was due to be released from custody on Oct. 8.
Police ask that anyone with information on his whereabouts contact Lt. Gregory Esteban at 961-2252 or gesteban@co.hawaii.hi.us.
Another inmate, 21-year-old Christopher B.K. Santos of Hilo, left the facility on Saturday morning, but was arrested and taken into police custody. Schwartz said guards saw Santos go over a wall she described as “the size of a hurdle.”
“He took off over it into the parking lot, and he tried to get into a car, but the people inside the car secured it. Then the corrections officers grabbed him and pulled him back in,” she said. Santos, who was also housed in the facility’s men’s unit, was charged with escape. His bail was set at $10,000.
According to court records, Santos was sentenced to 60 days in jail in late March for second-degree marijuana possession and resisting arrest. It’s not known when his jail time was to begin or if he was serving his sentence on weekends.
The third inmate, Ryan James Jeffries-Hamar of Kailua-Kona, reportedly escaped on the afternoon of Aug. 14. Police say he was seen the following afternoon in Kainaliu and later that evening in Kailua-Kona. Jeffries-Hamar is described as Caucasian, about 5-foot-7, about 170 pounds with blue eyes and short reddish-blond hair. He has a tattoo along his entire right arm.
“He’s still out there, but (police are) actively searching for him,” Schwartz said. “He was on extended furlough, which means he doesn’t even live at the facility. He checked in, like he’s supposed to. Then, for unknown reasons — who knows why they do what they do — he took off through the kitchen.”
Jefferies-Hamar was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Kona judge in December 2007 for two counts of first-degree burglary and one count each of theft and auto theft.
Although Jeffries-Hamar is not considered dangerous, police warn the public against contacting him and instead advise them to instead contact Detective Grant Todd at 961-2385 or gtodd@co.hawaii.hi.us.
Another inmate who escaped from Hale Nani last month has been arrested in Albuquerque, N.M., according to a newspaper there.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that 32-year-old Dallas Wesley Runyon of Ka‘u was nabbed by police at the city’s Greyhound bus station on Aug. 5 for identity theft.
Big Island police reported that Runyon left the facility on July 21 without authorization.
Runyon was sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended in September by a Kona judge for second-degree theft and copper theft. He was on HOPE probation, a program for high-risk probationers that requires daily check-ins and frequent drug tests.
It’s not known if the state plans to extradite Runyon. A call early Tuesday afternoon to Deputy Prosecutor Linda Walton, who handled Runyon’s case, was not returned by press time.
The escapes were the first in more than a year from the community-based facility. The last escape before Runyon’s was Sky Kamai Lewis on March 30, 2011. Police arrested him in December.
Schwartz said that DPS officials “plan to look at” procedures at Hale Nani and the criteria used to determine if an inmate is a good risk for a community-based program.
She noted that all the escapees “had little time left” on their sentences.
“Who knows why they took off, but they just made it worse for themselves,” she said.
Second-degree escape, which includes intentional escape from a correctional facility, is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
