With two men who escaped from the Hilo jail still at large Thursday night, Hawaii island police took the unusual step of issuing a statement asking the public to dismiss reports that a longtime Waiakea Uka mom-and-pop store had been robbed by the wanted men.
"Reports of a robbery occurring today at Ainaola Mart are false," police said in an electronic alert. "People are posting this rumor on social networks. There was no criminal incident at the store."
Jarvis Naoki Higa, 35, and Ryan James Jeffries-Hamar, 31, escaped from the Hawaii Community Correctional Center on Wednesday morning. The two men are considered dangerous, and Higa may be armed, police said. The public is being asked to call 911 immediately if they are seen.
Ryan Harada, an Ainaola Mart employee, said the phone was "going crazy already" when he started his shift at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. He estimated he took 20 to 30 calls, largely from neighbors concerned that the men may be in the upper Hilo neighborhood.
Harada said he thinks the rumors were sparked by reports circulating that "a suspicious white vehicle" was cruising in the neighborhood.
"Police came twice just to check," he said.
Earlier Thursday, police urged financial institutions to beef up security measures after receiving several reports that the two escapees intended to rob a bank.
Higa was being held at the facility awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge after allegedly shooting at a 34-year-old Hilo man in July. Jeffries-Hamar was serving his sentence for a parole violation and awaiting trial for a previous escape from the Hale Nani facility in August.
Higa is described as Japanese, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with short black hair and tattoos on his chest. Jeffries-Hamar is described as Caucasian, about 5 feet 7 inches, about 170 pounds, with blue eyes and short reddish-brown hair.
The two inmates overpowered and assaulted a corrections officer in the jail’s library, threatened the librarian and took her car keys. They then forced their way out of the building, got into the librarian’s car and drove off. The corrections officer, 63, was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries and released. The librarian, 49, was not injured.
