Suspect in deputy's death hurt in alleged escape try

A man accused of fatally shooting an off-duty deputy sheriff in February attempted to escape from Halawa Community Correctional Facility on Friday by jumping 40 feet off a building to get past a perimeter fence, Halawa's warden said.

Patrick Lorenzo Jr., 32, was taken to the Queen's Medical Center with a broken leg, broken ankle and fractured arm, said Halawa warden Clayton Frank.

Lorenzo is facing murder and attempted murder charges for allegedly killing Daniel Browne-Sanchez and shooting at other employees on Feb. 10 during a robbery attempt at Osake Sushi Bar and Lounge on Kapiolani Boulevard.

If convicted of first-degree attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill more than one person, Lorenzo could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Since March 5, Lorenzo has been serving a 30-year prison sentence at the medium-security facility for previous drug convictions.

Frank said Lorenzo was taking a smoke break with other inmates in an enclosed recreational area about 8:45 p.m. Friday. A perimeter and a main gate correctional officer both heard a thump about 9:05 p.m. and, upon investigating, found a person rolling and moaning in a fetal position.

Frank said it appears Lorenzo climbed 40 feet up a building using the glass louvers. At the top of the louvers, he jumped 10 feet to grab the roof edge and pulled himself on top.

"If he missed that jump he might have died," Frank said.

Officials believe he jumped down to a 10-inch wide, 40-foot high wall. Officials said that, after scaling 10 feet of the wall, he climbed onto the roof of another building, and then to another roof that took him outside the perimeter, where he jumped 40 feet onto a patch of grass.

If he hadn't injured himself, "he could have escaped," Frank said.

Prison officials have charged Lorenzo with institutional escape. After he is released from the hospital, Lorenzo is likely to be moved to the maximum-security area of the prison.

Frank said prison officials are interviewing his roommate and checking his personal belongings for clues as to how and why Lorenzo escaped.

Lorenzo's history at the prison did not show any violence or label him as an escape risk, Frank said.

A charge of criminal escape, which could lead to five years in prison, was not filed as of last night, Frank said.

The prison is not in lockdown, Frank added. However, the prison is reviewing its procedures, as is standard anytime there is an escape attempt.

The last successful escape from Halawa was in 2003 when David Scribner, Albert Batalona and Warren Elicker broke out from the high-security facility and hid on the Windward side for nearly a week.