Second inmate turns self in to end manhunt
Two men escaped from MCCC before the sun was up Sunday
Two men who escaped from Maui Community Correctional Center early Sunday morning are both in custody after Troy Diego turned himself into police Monday afternoon.
The 30-year-old Diego escaped the Wailuku jail with 31-year-old Barret
“BJ” Paman, who turned himself in to police shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday.
Lt. Gregg Okamoto said that about 2:15 p.m. Monday, Diego met with police officers at the Wailuku Police Station, where he was arrested without incident for the offense of second-degree escape. Police did not file charges, pending further investigation, and returned him to MCCC, he said.
Both men are pretrial detainees. They were in a dorm building for community and minimum custody inmates, the lowest custody level, the state Department of Public Safety said.
Diego was awaiting trial on charges of theft, unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and failure to appear. Paman was facing charges of burglary, theft, carrying a firearm on a public highway and place to keep a firearm.
A source close to the investigation told The Maui News on Monday that the reason Paman tried to escape was that he feared for his life because of conditions at MCCC.
On March 11, a riot broke out at the jail that caused millions of dollars in damage. Fires were set and toilets, sinks and windows broken in the three-hour rampage by inmates. Tensions over broken phones, overcrowding and poor food and mail service have been cited by inmates as the reasons for the riot.
The state Department of Public Safety said Sunday that ìpreliminary reports indicated that Diego and Paman broke the emergency exit door in their dorm to escape. Department spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said Monday that the broken door was repaired and reinforced Sunday and that the jail is installing an alarm on the door.
There was no electric alarm in the building where the men escaped, she said.
Additional barbed wire is being installed to the perimeter fence, over which it is believed the men climbed, Schwartz added. Correctional staff found what looked to be a towel and an inmate uniform in the razor wire at the top of the north-facing perimeter fence next to a cemetery, she said.
Schwartz said there is a fence around the building through which the men escaped and security cameras inside and outside the building.
“There are routine patrols done around the facility grounds, as well as outer perimeter checks at various times throughout the day and night,” she said.
There was an armed presence in MCCC following the riot, but that was focused on Modules A and B, which were being repaired after the March riot, Schwartz said. Those repairs have been completed.
The dorm Paman and Diego escaped from is scheduled to get new doors and upgrades to fixtures, said Schwartz. The capital improvement project is pending a start date from the Department of Accounting and General Services.
The escape was first noticed around 2:30 a.m. Sunday when staff found a broken door in the back of the dorm building. A lockdown was ordered, and a headcount confirmed that the two men were missing. Correctional staff searched the perimeter and found clothing in the razor wire, and police were notified.
“I’m very grateful for our Maui police officers’ hard work during an island-wide manhunt Sunday and (Monday),” said Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino on Monday. “I’m pleased that it ended peacefully with the inmates returned to custody.”
Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.