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MCCC escapee back at jail; found in field

Maui Community Correctional Center escapee Reid Kauhaahaa was returned to the Wailuku jail following his arrest Wednesday afternoon in macadamia nut fields in Waiehu, police said Thursday.

Police Crime Reduction Unit officers arrested Kauhaahaa, 26, at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday along with his girlfriend Kelsie Kaoni, 20, of Waiehu, according to police records.

Kauhaahaa had been sought since Oct. 28, when he fled from a work detail that had stopped for lunch at Waikapu on 30.

Kaoni had been arrested last week after she was found in a car driven by Kauhaahaa on Nov. 5, police said. Kauhaahaa ran from the car belonging to Kaoni after officers followed and tried to stop the car, which eventually turned onto Piihana Road in Wailuku, according to police. Kauhaahaa got out of the car and ran when it turned into the Piihana Farms area, police said.

Kaoni, who was charged with first-degree hindering prosecution and obstructing government operations, was released on supervision when she appeared in Wailuku District Court on Nov. 7.

On Wednesday, Kaoni was arrested on a grand jury warrant in that case, with her bail set at $5,200.

Kaoni and Kauhaahaa weren’t charged in connection with their arrests Wednesday, with a police investigation continuing.

Kauhaahaa is serving a five-year prison term for second-degree burglary and second-degree theft. He had been in the work furlough program, with his next parole hearing scheduled for Feb. 28, according to the state Department of Public Safety.

Toni Schwartz, spokeswoman for the department, said that Kauhaahaa will be charged with escape.

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