DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Warden Francis Sequeira pointed Friday to Tower 4 of the Oahu Community Correctional Center, where guards Thursday observed the attempted escape of Chad Teisina, who was awaiting trial for theft.
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An Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate attempted to bolt to freedom Thursday morning but was stopped as he scaled a wire fence.
Chad Teisina, who was awaiting trial for theft, tried to climb an 18-foot fence topped with razor wire in the prison’s recreational yard, said Toni Schwartz, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
But guards in a watchtower saw Teisina running to the fence and alerted the correctional officers in the recreation yard. Schwartz said guards on both sides of the fence caught Teisina as he reached the bottom of the razor wire.
He was brought down off the fence and handcuffed.
Teisina, 21, was taken to a hospital for treatment of puncture wounds from the razor wire and returned to the facility Thursday afternoon.
Schwartz said Teisina will face in-house disciplinary action as well as possible criminal charges for the attempted escape.
"Teisina tried to escape in broad daylight," Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said in a news release. "We don’t know why they do impulsive things like this, but this is the type of person our corrections officers deal with every day."
Since January 2011 five OCCC inmates have escaped, two from vans during transport. There have been six escapes from the minimum-security Waiawa Correctional Facility and Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo. Maui CCC has had two escapes. There have been no escapes from Halawa Correctional Facility, the Women’s Community Correctional Center or the Kauai Community Correctional Center in that period of time.
All escapees have been recaptured.