Theft suspect Police were looking for a 19-year-old auto theft suspect who became the first person to escape from a cellblock at police headquarters at 801 S. Beretania St.
escapes from police
HQ cellblock
A malfunctioning lock
and unattended keys
are cited as factors
By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com
Police said human and mechanical errors allowed Jessie K. Dutro to walk out of the building Monday night after he unlocked his cell and a rarely used door.
Jessie K. Dutro: Left the building Monday by unlocking his cell and a door "When I was notified of that, I was kind of shocked that somebody could do that," said Assistant Police Chief Stephen Watarai of the Central Patrol Bureau.
Watarai said he couldn't recall any escapes from the old police headquarters building on Young Street.
A supervisor noticed Dutro missing when he made a routine check of the cellblock and saw one of the doors ajar, police said. Dutro left the building at 7:55 p.m. and the supervisor noticed he was gone about five minutes later, Watarai said.
Dutro managed to open his cell door, which had a defective auxiliary lock, and walked out, Watarai said.
His three cellmates, however, did not follow him.
Dutro then walked down a 20-foot corridor past other cells, and about 10 feet after that he found a set of three keys left unattended and out in the open.
"That's where human error occurred," Watarai said. Normally, the keys are assigned to an officer who has custody of them at all times, but neither of the two officers assigned to that cellblock were present, he said.
Once Dutro got the keys, he walked down a 30-foot hallway to a rarely used cellblock door marked "EXIT," picked out the single large key and unlocked the door, Watarai said.
Police later found the set of keys in the door.
From there, Dutro apparently went unnoticed down a 50-foot hallway, wearing the white T-shirt and black shorts he was arrested in and fled out a parking garage door, according to Watarai.
Police have begun an administrative investigation into the conduct of the cellblock officers, including where they were when Dutro escaped. Both officers remain assigned to the cellblock, Watarai said. "I would seriously doubt any officer aided him in helping to escape," Watarai said.
Watarai said officers checked the locks on other cells immediately after the escape and found them functioning properly.
Police said there are 53 adult cells and five juvenile cells at police headquarters. There were 76 prisoners in custody Monday night and 17 officers on duty in the cellblock area, police said.
Dutro is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, 170 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes and a large mole under his right eye. He is known to frequent the Waimanalo area.
Police said Dutro was arrested Saturday in Haleiwa in a stolen car. Watarai said he was taken to police headquarters at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Police charged Dutro with auto theft, reckless driving and resisting an order to stop, and they also want to question him in other cases. He had been scheduled for a court appearance yesterday morning.
Anyone with information concerning Dutro is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or 911.
Honolulu Police Department
