Posted at 6:40 p.m., Tuesday, May 15, 2001

Kahala scene of police search for escapee

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Dozens of heavily armed police officers swarmed to a Kahala neighborhood today in search of an escapee from the Hawaii State Hospital.

Police were called to the 4600 block of Kolohana Street at 1:53 p.m. by a swimming pool maintenance worker who said he saw a man climbing a fence between two homes.

Sgt. David Passmore said the man fit the description of Leonard Moore, 35, who escaped from the hospital April 7. It was Moore's second escape in less than two weeks from the facility.

About an hour earlier, Passmore said a man who fit Moore's description also was seen in a yard on nearby Noio Street.

Nearly 40 police officers, including the Specialized Services Division, cordon off a one-block area of Kolohana while a police helicopter hovered over the search area. Passmore said officers went door to door in the neighborhood and also searched the Kahala Mall for Moore.

Police called off the search at about 4:40 p.m. Passmoore said police planned to beef up patrol in the area tonight.

Moore is a suspect in several burglaries and auto thefts in the Kahala area.

On Saturday, police believe Moore was driving a stolen car that crashed into a wall on 'Aukai Street in Kahala.