Recent escapes no surprise to State Hospital's neighbors

By Dan Nakaso and Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writers

KANE'OHE — Joy Lindsey works at Windward Community College, just yards from Hawai'i State Hospital, and has come across no fewer than three escapees over the years. One hung around her office in the counseling center all day. Another asked for a match. A third was squatting in some bushes.

Allen Takamiyashiro, who lives on nearby Po'okela Place, is concerned about the number of recent escapes from Hawai'i State Hospital in Kane'ohe. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

She was concerned, as usual. Upset, as usual, that no one notified neighbors and workers. But not in a panic.

The people around the State Hospital have long ago gotten used to the idea that patients walk away from the facility and flee through their neighborhoods, find themselves in the buildings on the Windward campus on their way to what usually are short-lived escapes.

"It is a little scary," said Lindsey, a clerk-typist. "But I never get too worried."

Peter Kraus, 19, who has a history of violent behavior on the Big Island, escaped from the Hawai'i State Hospital on Saturday and was arrested that same night after he was spotted on Kane'ohe Bay Drive. His arrest came after an elderly man charged with murder fled the hospital on June 29.

Police said the hospital did not notify them immediately about Kraus' escape. The hospital countered that its staff found him quickly, then called police.

"The only part that kind of disturbs us was that we were not called as soon as he left the grounds," said Det. Alex Garcia, who handled the Kraus case. "It was more than an hour before we were contacted."

The hospital's acting director said Kraus was on "escorted privileges," meaning he was being monitored by staff. "That's the reason why they got a hold of him immediately," said Dr. Celia Ona.

Police say Kraus walked away from the hospital cafeteria at about 5:15 p.m. and was arrested at 6:50 p.m. Ona said police were called about 6:20 p.m.

"We are a treatment facility, not a prison," she said. "We do our best to maintain safety and security for patients, staff and the community."

Police charged Kraus yesterday with second-degree escape and set his bail at $12,000. He was to appear in court today and be taken to the O'ahu Community Correctional Center. He has no criminal convictions in Hawai'i.

Last month, Stanley Morris Santos, 64, acquitted by reason of insanity for a murder more than 30 years ago, escaped from the hospital and was not captured until a hospital worker recognized him more than 28 hours later.

Living and working next door to the state hospital means that escapes have become part of the backdrop of life in this picturesque, cloud-covered corner of Kane'ohe. The Hawai'i State Hospital is nudged against the base of the Ko'olau Mountains, surrounded by a church, an alcohol and drug-treatment center, a knot of middle-class, single-family homes and the beginnings of a new District Courthouse that is rising from the ground.

Life in the neighborhood seemed much quieter when Allen and Harumi Takamiyashiro moved into their new home on Po'okela Place in 1988.

"Now there's a lot of traffic, all kinds of people coming in," said Allen Takamiyashiro, a 71-year-old, retired electronics worker from the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. "It can't be too safe for women and children with all of these breakouts."

A few years ago, one escapee made his way to the ridgeline above the Takamiyashiro's house. "He was just yelling, yelling, yelling," Allen Takamiyashiro said.

About 3,000 students visit the Windward Community College's laboratories each year, many of them from elementary and junior high schools.

"We have people of all ages on the campus at all times, and we need to be sure it's safe here at all times," said interim provost Angela Meixell.

Like others, Meixell said hospital officials fail to notify her when patients escape.

"We would like to at least have the courtesy of that information so that we could take precautions if necessary," Meixell said. "Obviously my concern is the health and safety of students, faculty and staff, and I would like to be in the loop so that I can make appropriate decisions."

Rep. Charles Djou, (R-Kahalu'u, Kane'ohe), who represents the area surrounding the hospital, said neighbors should also be informed when patients escape.

"Certainly some of these (escapees) are dangerous, and it's not unreasonable to want to be notified," he said. "People are sent there because they're found mentally unfit to stand trial, but that doesn't mean they did not murder or rape someone. It just means they can't be thrown in jail."

Health officials say they will notify police if they consider an escaped patient to be dangerous, and that police can then make any further notifications they feel is necessary.

Djou said the constant escapes show the need for serious and immediate reform.

"It would be funny if not for the fact that it is so serious," he said. "Clearly the status quo is not working, and this is yet another example of why we need some dramatic changes in the way the Hawai'i State Hospital is run."

For now, Irish Barber-Kanaka'ole tries not to worry about the patients fleeing the hospital, just a few hundred yards from the home she and her husband Eric Kanaka'ole bought just a year ago.

After looking at 50 houses from Kahalu'u to Waimanalo, they aren't about to move again.

"I'm not concerned," Barber-Kanaka'ole said, pointing far off into the distance, away from her house. "As long as they go that way."

Advertiser staff writer Brandon Masuoka contributed to this report.