HILO — A task force of local police and a state sheriff’s deputy wrapped up an eight-day manhunt late Thursday night with the capture of the second of two men who allegedly escaped from Hawaii Community Correctional Center on Dec. 5.
HILO — A task force of local police and a state sheriff’s deputy wrapped up an eight-day manhunt late Thursday night with the capture of the second of two men who allegedly escaped from Hawaii Community Correctional Center on Dec. 5.
Ryan Jeffries-Hamar, 31, of Kailua-Kona was arrested at approximately 10:40 p.m. Thursday at a home in the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision of Pahoa.
“He struggled a little bit but it was no problem. We had enough guys to deal with it,” South Hilo Patrol Capt. Robert Wagner said Friday. He said the task force was able to apprehend Jeffries-Hamar without injuring him.
On Friday, Jeffries-Hamar was charged with first-degree escape, second-degree assault, second-degree robbery, kidnapping, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, auto theft and third-degree criminal property damage. He is being held without bail at the Hilo police cellblock pending his initial appearance Monday afternoon in Hilo District Court.
Police also arrested 30-year-old Tyler Tzovarras of Pahoa, aka Tyler O’Neil, at the Hawaiian Beaches house on suspicion of first-degree hindering prosecution, as well as for an outstanding bench warrant. He was charged on first-degree hindering prosecution and with contempt of court. His bail was set at $10,800.
Wagner said there was a third individual at the Kawakawa Street home, but that person wasn’t arrested.
In addition, 40-year-old Elizabeth Maile Medeiros of Captain Cook, aka Maile Medeiros, was charged with first-degree hindering prosecution for allegedly providing transportation and clothing for Jeffries-Hamar while he was at large.
Medeiros was arrested Thursday while in Circuit Court on an unrelated matter. She is in the Kona police cellblock in lieu of $2,000 bail pending her initial court appearance scheduled for Monday in Kona District Court.
Earlier Thursday, police received multiple reports placing Jeffries-Hamar in Kona. Police tracked him from Kona to Puna after an investigation revealed that he’d left Kona as a passenger on a motorcycle operated by Tzovarras and traveled through Ka‘u on the way to Puna.
Court documents filed by police state that another inmate, 35-year-old Jarvis Higa of Hilo, choked an unarmed 63-year-old corrections officer while Jeffries-Hamar allegedly punched the man several times and stole his keys to the jail.
The guard, Roberto Paulino, reportedly suffered a neck injury and a bruised eye. He was treated for his injuries at Hilo Medical Center and released.
Jeffries-Hamar allegedly took car keys belonging to HCCC’s law librarian, Wendy Osborne, and the pair kicked open a gate — causing more than $1,000 in damage — before stealing Osborne’s car. Osborne was reportedly traumatized but not physically hurt.
The car was later found in the Sunrise Ridge subdivision in Hilo.
Police arrested Higa Dec. 7 in Ocean View.
A preliminary hearing for Higa is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at District Court on charges of first-degree escape, kidnapping, second-degree assault, second-degree robbery, auto theft and third-degree criminal property damage.
Higa, who is also scheduled to stand trial on April 15 on attempted murder and firearms charges, is being held without bail at Halawa Correctional Facility on Oahu.
State Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said in a Friday email that DPS also plans to transfer Jeffries-Hamar to Halawa. Prior to the escape, Jeffries-Hamar was awaiting trial for an August escape from Hale Nani, a community-based facility in Hilo. He was arrested in Kona about a month later.