Robber escapes from Maui jail

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

WAILUKU, Maui — Police are looking for a convicted robber who escaped from the Maui Community Correctional Center only a month before his tentative parole date.

Gerald M. Villanueva was serving a 20-year term for an armed robbery in 1996.

MCCC Warden Albert Murashige said Villanueva used clothing to form a human shape in his bed and then left his dormitory and climbed over a 20-foot fence topped with razor wire.

Murashige said it was not immediately known how Villanueva managed to break out of the dormitory, which has a capacity of 80 inmates.

Guards make hourly checks at the building.

The escapee was sentenced to a 20-year term in October 1996 for robbery, using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possessing an illegal firearm, the warden said. He was sentenced in an unrelated theft and forgery case four months later.

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority set a minimum term of five years, and Villanueva was due for tentative parole May 11, Murashige said.

He was transferred from the Halawa prison to MCCC in June 1998 and had not been a problem inmate, Murashige said. In fact, because of good behavior, Villanueva was allowed to live in the dorm and work on the jail's Workline, a program that sends supervised teams of inmates to assist community groups with cleanup projects.

The escapee is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds. He has "Love A.P." tattooed on his left hand.

Murashige said anyone who sees Villanueva should not try to apprehend him. Instead, call the Maui Police Department at 244-6400 or dial 911.