HCCC escapee Jarvis Higa apprehended; Ryan Jeffries-Hamar likely in West Hawaii

Big Island police and a state sheriff’s deputy Friday evening apprehended Jarvis Higa, one of two men who overpowered a Hawaii Community Correctional Center corrections officer and took a librarian’s car keys Wednesday morning before fleeing the facility.

Higa was arrested about 8:15 p.m. after the law enforcement team earlier in the evening received a tip that Higa may be at the Ka’u home. They located him there, and after Higa tried to flee, he was taken into custody, Schwartz said.Higa’s counterpart in the escape, Ryan Jeffries-Hamar, 31, remains at large, Schwartz said. Hawaii Police Department Area II Criminal Investigations Section Capt. Chad Basque said late Friday that police believe he has traveled to the west side of the island. If seen, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Jeffries-Hamar, also known as Ryan James Hamar, Ryan James Jeffries, and Ryan Jeffries-Hamar, is described as Caucasian, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 165 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes, according to police.

Basque said the department’s task force is continuing to work with the community in “an effort to safely locate and apprehend” Jeffries-Hamar.

Higa and Jeffries-Hamar escaped Wednesday after they overpowered and “beat up” a corrections officer in the facility’s law library and took a librarian’s car keys. They then kicked a security gate compromising it enough that they were able to slip out, climbed a fence and took the women’s car, which was later found abandoned.

Jeffries-Hamar is one of more than a dozen Big Islanders identified by police to have been involved in a South Kona crime spree earlier this year. He was in custody following a Sept. 8 arrest that netted him an escape charge after he allegedly failed to check in with a work furlough release program.

HCCC was placed on lockdown shortly after the escape until Thursday, Schwartz said. The law library remains closed to inmates.