Inmates hurt Maui
guard in rare attack

Four prisoners gang up on him,
breaking his finger

CORRECTION Thursday, July 14, 2005 » The acting warden of Maui Community Correctional Center is Alan Nouchi. His last name was misspelled as Ouchi in a Page A3 article yesterday. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

WAILUKU » A Maui prison guard suffered a broken left finger while being physically assaulted by at least four inmates -- the first major assault in more than a quarter century.

Attacks at Maui Community Correctional Center have been rare and usually involve a prisoner assaulting a guard, rather than several inmates involved in an attack, acting Warden Alan Ouchi said.

Ouchi said the last attack occurred a couple of months ago, when a prison inmate rushed a prison supervisor.

The inmate was arrested and no one was hurt, he said.

Ouchi said in yesterday's incident, the guard Nathan Walker, who had come on duty, noticed inmates were crowding around the breakfast food area near Module A, where felons are confined.

Ouchi said Walker told the inmates to form a line and one of the inmates made an inappropriate comment.

Walker asked the inmate to step out of the line and escorted the inmate off to the side in a port area to speak to him, when a second inmate made an inappropriate comment, Ouchi said.

Walker ordered the second inmate to step out of the line and also spoke to him in the port area, Ouchi said.

Public Safety officials said that at about 7 a.m., the second inmate attacked Walker and at least three other inmates rushed to join in the assault.

State public safety spokesman Mike Gaede said the attack, which mainly involved wrestling and rolling on the ground, took only a couple of minutes at the most.

"The other officers were quick to respond," Gaede said.

Six inmates have been placed in separate cells, pending an investigation.

Walker was treated and released from Maui Memorial Medical Center and returned to light work at the prison yesterday afternoon.

The prison houses nearly 400 inmates and detainees.

If charged and convicted of second-degree assault, a person could serve up to 10 years in prison, Ouchi said.