OCCC inmate who died after alleged assault had trouble with probation

The 23-year-old man who died Thursday after sustaining a traumatic injury from an alleged assault at a state jail was there for failing to meet the terms of probation relating to a 2015 nonviolent conviction.

James Borling-Salas, an inmate at the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC), was transported on Dec. 14 by ambulance from OCCC to a nearby hospital following an altercation involving other inmates, according to state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz.

Honolulu police said he was discharged to hospice care Wednesday. Autopsy results are pending.

Schwartz said the alleged assault case was referred to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation. Honolulu police have said that they will assist in the investigation if necessary.

According to court records, Borling-­Salas’ Hawaii criminal conviction record goes back to May 2015, when he pleaded guilty as a teenager to unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, a Class C felony.

Class C felonies are punishable with up to five years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. But Borling­-Salas was offered a deferred acceptance of a guilty plea, which allows defendants the opportunity to have a charge dismissed if they comply with terms and conditions set by the court.

Borling-Salas also was sentenced to 196 days in jail, with credit for time served, and four years of highly supervised probation in HOPE, which stands Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement. But according to court records, he struggled to meet the terms of the program.

By May 28, 2015, the court already had issued the first of about a dozen bench warrants to follow, as Borling-Salas cycled in and out of jail.

Borling-Salas’ criminal record also shows that he was arrested on Feb. 13, 2017, for third-degree assault. He pleaded no contest to that charge on March 6, 2017, and was sentenced to 18 days in jail with credit for time served.

He last appeared in court Oct. 14, 2019, on a bench warrant, and the judge returned him to custody.