The last of three inmates to escape Hale Nani has been returned to custody after seven months

Inmate Clyde T. T. Loa is the last of three inmates who left the Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center’s Hale Nani Facility without permission in December 2024 to be returned to custody.

The Hawaiʻi Police Department found and apprehended Loa, 31, in the ʻĀinaloa subdivision of Pāhoa on Sunday afternoon (July 27, 2025). He was returned to custody at Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center at about 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Loa is charged with second-degree escape, first-degree theft, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, habitual property crime, and two counts of summons or arrest of a defendant on probation.

He is making his initial court appearance today and is being held without bail.

Loa and inmates Joseph C. Fernandez, 36, and Kawai J. Pomroy, 41, were reported missing from Hale Nani on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, along with a vehicle belonging to a Hale Nani employee.

Police recovered the employee’s vehicle at the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision on Dec. 18, 2024, where police also arrested Fernandez.

On Jan. 14, 2025, park rangers at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park apprehended Pomroy within the park. Both men were subsequently returned to custody at the Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center.

Prior to the arrests of the three inmates, the men were considered community custody, the lowest security custody classification.