Prison reviewing "Security 101'

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

In the wake of the OCCC prison breakout, the warden says security is under intense scrutiny, the union says its prison guards are in danger and the state director of public safety says the state has asked for outside help.

Two Kalihi prison inmates scaled the intersection of this fence Wednesday and escaped. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Two other inmates, one of them an accused killer, escaped. They were captured within hours. The inmate who unlocked the cell doors did not make it outside the prison.

Yesterday, United Public Workers Union chief Gary Rodrigues said lax security procedures are common, and he accused management of not enforcing security rules.

Just before Wednesday's break, a sergeant ordered an OCCC guard to let an inmate, Paul Damas, out of his cell to make a phone call, even though the guard would have no back-up, Rodrigues said.

An adjacent room containing a control box to open inmates' cells had its lock welded open, giving Damas access, Rodrigues said.

The guard told the union he was overpowered by three inmates in the facility's holding area, Rodrigues said.

After they were let out of their cells, Eric K. Vance — charged with murder in the shooting death of a Kane'ohe liquor store owner — and Kerbert Silva — who had escaped from the prison before — escaped by scaling two razor-wire fences. Guards in the prison towers fired at them but missed. The inmates were captured in Honolulu later Wednesday night.

Rodrigues said the union will file charges that the state is failing to protect the health and safety of guards at the facility.

Warden Clayton Frank said events surrounding the breakout are still under investigation, but noted that established security procedures were apparently not followed in several instances leading up to the escape. The warden said he could not comment on the union's charges.

State Director of Public Safety Ted Sakai said concerns about prison security prompted OCCC to ask for a review from the National Institute of Corrections, which sent analysts to visit the prison last week. The institute gave prison officials a briefing and recommendations on security measures. A written report is expected next month.

OCCC was adopting some of the recommendations made by the reviewers, Sakai said. "Then we had the escape."

Inmate escapes again

Some measures that were considered were not added because the prison did not have enough money, Frank said.

Silva, one of two inmates who escaped Wednesday, also got past the razor wire-topped perimeter fence in January.

After Silva's January escape, Sakai asked the OCCC warden what could be done to make the facility more secure.

Frank said he told his boss it would cost $250,000 just to buy and ship 5,000 yards of additional razor wire.

After the Silva escape in January, the National Guard donated some concertina wire, and some was installed, but not in the area where Silva escaped.

Wednesday night, when Silva and Vance escaped over the perimeter fence again, no additional razor wire had been installed.

Silva was at the police cell block last night awaiting return to the prison. Vance, who suffered fractures to both legs, possibly in jumping from the prison fence, was being treated at the Queen's Medical Center.

Extra razor wire might have prevented the escape of the two men, Frank said. However, the warden said the center's security system had already failed at several points before the inmates reached that last fence.

With the investigation just beginning, Frank gave only a sketchy account of the escape, which began about 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Inmates Damas, 43; accused killer Vance, 31; and two-time escapee Silva, 37; were in a four-cell "quad" on the ground floor of the holding area, intended to be the most secure area in the facility.

As recognized high-risk inmates, the three were let out of their cells only one or two hours each day. Silva was not allowed out of his cell except when wearing shackles.

The holding area was being guarded by one officer.

Damas had special status as a "floor boy," which allowed him to come out of his cell to mop and clean. He may already have been outside his cell when he asked to be allowed to use a telephone outside the quad.

The guard on duty, whose name was not released, was persuaded to come into the quad area, Frank said, adding, "The right protocol is that you don't leave this door unlocked, or if it is, your sergeant is here."

Instead of going to the telephone, Damas entered the unlocked control room, gained access to an unlocked control box and opened all the cells on the floor.

The inmates got through an emergency door and into an exercise area outside the holding area.

There they managed to rip a hole in a fence and climb up the back side, with no razor wire attached, to reach the roof of one of the facility's housing units. Damas lagged and was caught by guards inside the facility.

At about 7:30 p.m., the center's video surveillance system spotted Vance and Silva on the roof.

Shots fired

Guards watched as they scurried across the tops of three buildings, leaving a pair of rubber slippers behind, one in a coil of razor wire, another in a roof gutter.

A guard in Tower Three on the diamondhead-makai corner of the prison fired a single shot at the group while they were on the roof, but missed.

The three dropped down into a prison industrial area and tried to stay out of sight of the two Nimitz side towers as they made their way 'ewa toward a gate.

Silva and Vance scaled a 16-foot-high inner fence and cleared the razor wire at the top. They clambered to the top of the outside fence, also 16 feet tall and topped with razor wire.

At that point, the guards in the Nimitz towers opened fire. Five shots were fired, two from Tower Three and three from Tower Four. All missed.

Silva and Vance jumped from the fence to temporary freedom.

Frank noted that although 12 cells were opened, no other inmates went out.

Both the police department and public safety department's internal affairs are conducting investigations.

On the physical front, Frank said, officials are looking at how to reinforce the first fence and all others like it. The lack of razor wire on the second side of the first fence is also under review.

Rodrigues said yesterday one of the problems is that the facility is in a heavily developed area, and guards cannot easily fire on anyone attempting escape without risking injury to others inside or outside the facility.

Yesterday, Sakai said he will launch a "full investigation" into security procedures and whether the staff are doing their jobs adequately.

"We got to make sure basic security procedures are followed," Sakai said. "Make sure doors are property secured, make sure (head) counts are made on time. It's all these Security 101 things."

Advertiser staff writer Brandon Masuoka contributed to this report.