Police Arrest and Charge Escapee Joseph Fernandez

Hawai‘i Island police have arrested and charged one of the three men who escaped from the Hale Nani Correctional Facility on Friday, December 13, 2024.

On Wednesday evening, December 18, 2024, Fernandez was located at a residence on Hawai’i Boulevard, in the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision, where he was arrested without incident.

Upon conferral with the Hawai‘i County Prosecutors Office, Fernandez was charged with the following offenses stemming from the escape:

• Second-degree escape
• First-degree theft (motor vehicle)
• First-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle (UEMV)

Bail for those charges was set at $9,000.

In addition to the above charges, Fernandez was also arrested and charged on the strength of a Warden’s warrant of arrest for a furlough violation (no bail), and was returned to the custody of the Hawai‘i Community Correctional Center (HCCC).

The other two escapees, 31-year-old Clyde Takeshi Talosaga Loa Jr., and 41-year-old Kawai James Pomroy, remain at large.

The Hale Nani employee’s vehicle which the escapees stole, was also recovered on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at a property located on Tiki Lane in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates.

On Friday evening, December 13, 2024, Hale Nani Correctional Facility personnel reported that Fernandez, Loa, and Pomroy, had left the facility without permission, and were observed on surveillance operating the vehicle that belonged to an employee. The men did not have permission to operate the vehicle.       

Police ask anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of Loa and/or Pomroy, to contact the police department’s non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311, or Detective David Po’ohina of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2385, or email at David.Poohina@hawaiicounty.gov. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.