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Sheriffs capture third escaped Waiawa inmate

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Brian Aquino

State sheriffs captured the third missing Waiawa inmate in Waikiki after he escaped from the correctional facility two weeks ago.

Brian Aquino, 31, who is serving a sentence for first-degree burglary, was located at about 5:40 a.m. today and booked on suspicion of escape. He was transported to the Halawa Correctional Facility.

Toni Schwartz, spokeswoman of the state Department of Public Safety, said sheriffs received a tip early Wednesday on Aquino’s location and arrested him on Niu Street.

Sheriffs also arrested a 23-year-old woman at the same time as Aquino on misdemeanor warrants unrelated to the escape.

On April 20, police arrested two other inmates, Kekoa Aspera and Kamaka Villegas, in Waimanalo after they allegedly robbed two visitors at Kailua Beach.

Aspera, 25, is serving a sentence for first-degree burglary and first-degree theft. Villegas, 34, is serving a sentence for drugs, ownership/possession of a prohibited firearm, auto theft, second-degree robbery, second-degree forgery and promoting prison contraband in the second-degree.

The three men were discovered missing from the Waiawa Correctional Facility during a headcount on the night of April 18. The Department of Public Safety said they escaped after they climbed over a barbed-wire fence. A facility-issued sweater was observed draped over the fence on the south end of the compound, said Schwartz.

Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda was unavailable to comment on Aquino’s capture. In an e-mailed statement, Schwartz said officials are reviewing the April 18 escape “to assure that all security and case management staff involved were fully compliant with all regular monitoring and housing placement requirements included in the existing policies and procedures.”

The correctional facility is a minimum custody facility for male inmates.

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