Second of three escapees captured
Advertiser Staff
HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island police have captured another of the three men who escaped from the Hawai'i Community Correctional Center on Oct. 2.
Police on Wednesday arrested Shawn Dennis DeCosta, 25, in 'Upolu, North Kohala, after authorities received a report DeCosta had been seen at a Kokoiki residence.
Police went to the home shortly after 11:45 a.m. and saw DeCosta in the passenger seat of a vehicle that was being driven from the area. When officers stopped the car, DeCosta fled into nearby pasture land and hid.
The Big Island fire department's helicopter joined in the search, and police found DeCosta at about 2:30 p.m.
He was arrested on suspicion of escape, and promotion of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia, after police allegedly found him with a small amount of crystal methamphetamine.
DeCosta, 31-year-old Franklin Enos and Kole Race-Joaquin, 23, escaped from from the prison earlier this month after they removed a metal screen and louvers in a restroom window and climbed out.
Enos was recaptured on Oct. 13 after he was found sleeping in a parked vehicle in a driveway in Hawaiian Paradise Park in Puna.
Police were still seeking Race-Joaquin, described as dangerous. Anyone who knows his whereabouts is asked to call Detective Juergen Canda of the Criminal Investigation Section at 961-2381 or the police nonemergency number, 935-3311.