Dangerous Hawaii psychiatric patient flew to California

HONOLULU (AP) — A man acquitted of a 1979 murder by reason of insanity escaped from a Hawaii psychiatric hospital over the weekend, took a taxi to a chartered plane in Honolulu bound for the island of Maui and then boarded another plane to San Jose, Calif., police said.

Randall Saito, believed to be in Northern California, is considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached, Honolulu police said late Tuesday.

Saito left the state hospital outside Honolulu on Sunday at 10 a.m. and didn't return, police said. Hospital staff called 911 to report his disappearance shortly after 7:30 p.m. – two hours after he landed in San Jose, police said. An all-points bulletin was issued at 8:30 p.m.

The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service have reviewed security footage from San Jose International Airport in connection with the manhunt, said Jon Vaden, a spokesman for the airport.

He said police have not advised him of any threats at the facility.

Late Tuesday night, the Hawaii Attorney General's office charged Saito with felony escape and issued a $500,000 bench warrant for his arrest. Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said officers in all 50 states may enforce the arrest warrant.

"This is a dangerous individual," Chin said. "We need him off the streets."

Saito was committed to the hospital outside Honolulu in 1981, two years after he was acquitted in the killing of Sandra Yamashiro.

The victim was shot and repeatedly stabbed before her body was found in her car at a mall.

"He is a very dangerous individual," said Wayne Tashima, a Honolulu prosecutor who argued in 2015 against Saito receiving passes to leave the hospital grounds without an escort.