Pair, considered armed
and dangerous, beat a prison
guard severely

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Two escapees from Oahu Community Correctional Center were considered threats to public safety last fall when they were denied supervised release and their bail was raised.

Jeffery Pinero, 26, and Cy Huihui Kaina, 21, also known as Cy Huihui Revilla, beat prison guard Mel Imamura and escaped from their medium-security cell before scaling a 16-foot fence to freedom at about 1 a.m. yesterday, prison officials said.

The two inmates were still at large this morning.

"We're on full alert," said Boisse Correa, acting assistant police chief in charge of regional patrol. "We don't want to overreact and don't want them to overreact.

"The big thing is, we don't want anyone getting hurt. We'd love for them to turn themselves in but know the chances of that are slim."

Arrest warrants were issued for the two, charging them with with first-degree escape, first-degree robbery and kidnapping stemming from yesterday's breakout. Bail has been set at $200,000 each.

Correa said police are watching airports and harbors to prevent the escapees from leaving the island.

"Our undercover people are checking leads, relatives and friends," he said. "We live on an island, so where are you going to run?"

Donna Kaohu, who knows Kaina through her daughter, was shocked when she learned he had escaped.

"The side of him we know is not the side you hear about," Kaohu said. "I'd like to ask him why he did it. It's a stupid move.

"He's a follower, and I think he's following the other guy."

Kaohu said Kaina called her daughter a couple of days ago, but does not believe he talked about escaping.

Kaina was awaiting sentencing for armed robbery.

He was convicted of the May 24, 1997, robbery of a cab driver in Waikiki. The driver was stabbed in the right shoulder.

In an Oahu Intake Service report to the court, counselor Joan Okuno noted the driver was afraid of Kaina and that the investigation indicated he posed a threat to the community.

Kaina has no previous convictions. His bail was doubled from $50,000 to $100,000.

Pinero has three prior felony convictions, including burglary.

On April 7, 1997, Pinero was arrested during a drug raid on a Makaha home at Hana Street for being a felon in possession of 102 rounds of ammunition for a .22-caliber long rifle.

An Intake Services Report noted Pinero was arrested a month after being paroled for burglary. It also said he did not seek drug treatment while on parole. He eventually pleaded no contest to the ammunition offense in exchange for consideration of a mandatory minimum sentence of three years and four months. His sentencing was scheduled for November.

Correa said both men should be considered dangerous and possibly armed.

Kaina and Pinero apparently attracted Imamura, the lone guard on duty, to their cell by flooding their toilet, Warden Nolan Espinda said. Once Imamura opened the door, Espinda said, the inmates attacked him with a cue ball in a sock, two mop handles and a plastic water jug, all common items among prisoners. Espinda described the beating as brutal.

The inmates tied the guard up, then stole his wallet and keys. The pair exited through a fire escape and scaled three 16-foot fences, using a blanket to cover the barbed wire on top, Espinda said.

"This is the first assault of an officer in the commission of an escape that's happened in many, many years," Espinda said. "It is very unnerving when a fellow officer was assaulted and hurt. You've got to be shocked."

Espinda ordered a lockdown at the facility, which means all visits to the prison were canceled.

Prison officials also are investigating why guards in two watchtowers failed to see the inmates scaling the fence.

Anyone with information about the escapees is asked to call 911, CrimeStoppers (955-8300) or the Sheriff's Department (538-5696).