Second Hale Nani escapee back in custody

The second of 3 inmates who escaped Dec. 13, 2024, from Hale Nani, a dorm-style facility that houses the reintegration program of Hawai‘i Community Correctional Center, in the Pana‘ewa area of Hilo, is back in custody.

Hawai‘i Police Department reports that 41-year-old Kawai James Pomroy was arrested without incident at about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday by park rangers in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Pomroy was charged with:

• Second-degree escape.
• First-degree theft (motor vehicle).
• First-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

His bail was set at $9,000 for those charges.

Pomroy was also arrested and charged for a furlough violation and returned to Hawai‘i Community Correctional Center in Hilo.

Escapee 36-year-old Joseph Canito Fernandez was apprehended Dec. 18, 2024.

The third escapee, 31-year-old Clyde Takeshi Talosaga Loa Jr., remains at large and should be considered armed and dangerous.

Hale Nani personnel reported the evening of Dec. 13, 2024, that Fernandez, Loa and Pomroy left the facility without permission and were seen on surveillance operating a vehicle that belonged to an employee of the facility without the employee’s permission.

The Hale Nani employee’s vehicle was recovered Dec 18, 2024, at a property on Tiki Lane in Ocean View.

Loa is 5-foot-7, about 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

He is serving time for unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle and unauthorized possession of confidential information.

Anyone who might have information about Loa’s whereabouts is asked to contact Hawai‘i Police Department’s non-emergency line at 808-935-3311 or Detective David Po‘ohina at 808-961-2385 or via email at David.Poohina@hawaiicounty.gov.