State Hospital escapee’s extradition is authorized

The state of California has cleared the extradition of Hawaii State Hospital escapee Randall Saito.

Saito was served with a warrant Friday in San Joaquin Superior Court authorizing extradition back to Hawaii, Attorney General Douglas Chin said in a press release.

San Joaquin County Judge Michael Mulvihill set a status conference for Jan. 5 on the extradition’s specifics.

Chin’s office said it has made arrangements with the U.S. Marshals Service to have Saito returned on a noncommercial flight.

Saito, 59, is considered dangerous and has a violent past, including the random murder of a woman 38 years ago at the Ala Moana Center parking lot. He was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity and had been committed at Hawaii State Hospital since 1981.

He walked out of the Kaneohe hospital on the morning of Nov. 12, got a taxi to the airport and then a charter plane to Maui before catching another flight to San Jose, Calif., before authorities were notified that he was missing.

Police in Stockton, Calif., arrested Saito three days after his escape thanks to a tip from a cabdriver.

Saito faces felony escape charges for leaving the Hawaii State Hospital. An investigation into the circumstances of his escape is ongoing.