Inmate is charged in assault on 2 guards
A 24-year-old Halawa Correctional Facility inmate is accused of striking two prison guards while he was being held at Oahu Community Correctional Center last year.
Police said the inmate faces second-degree assault charges for striking a 40-year-old and a 29-year-old corrections officer at the Kalihi prison on Nov. 21. Neither guard suffered major injuries, police said.
The suspect was transferred to Halawa two days after the incident. He was at the Kalihi facility awaiting trial on offenses including second-degree murder, terroristic threatening, and firearm and drug charges.
Escapee returns to Hawaii State Hospital
A 25-year-old escapee is back at the Hawaii State Hospital after being on the run for a day, a state health official said.
Chad Nishihara, who was acquitted of manslaughter in 2008 and committed to the Hawaii State Hospital, left a Waikiki health facility May 25 while on an approved outing. State health officials said he returned to the Kaneohe facility voluntarily, accompanied by family members, the next day.
On Wednesday, Nishihara was arrested at the Kaneohe facility on a charge of second-degree escape, a hospital official said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Oven accident likely cause of house fire
An oven left on too long started a fire that destroyed a house in Nahiku on Wednesday night, the Maui County Fire Department said.
No one was home when the fire broke out shortly before midnight. The fire destroyed a 900-square-foot wooden house behind Nahiku Marketplace, near mile marker 29 on Hana Highway.
Officials estimated the loss at $250,000.
Three fire companies responded to the alarm and found the house engulfed in flames. They brought the fire under control at 1:58 a.m. and declared it extinguished at 6:33 a.m.
A woman who owns the house told fire officials that she had left the oven on.
American Red Cross volunteers were sent to help the residents with food, shelter and clothing needs.
