Man who escaped Hawaii hospital had fake IDs, phones, cash

UPDATE: 1/12/2018 12:57 p.m. Court documents say a man who escaped from a Hawaii psychiatric hospital and flew to California was caught with two high-quality fake IDs, two cellphones and more than $6,000 in cash.

Prosecutors filed the documents Thursday in an attempt to keep Randall Saito in jail instead of returning him to the hospital he fled in November. He was committed to Hawaii State Hospital after being acquitted by reason of insanity in a woman’s 1979 killing.

The documents say his escape involved considerable planning and resources. Prosecutors say he shouldn’t be granted bail because it’s not known if he has a cache of other fake IDs or secret sources of money.

A detective’s affidavit says Saito opened a combination-locked gate to flee the hospital.

Officials are investigating how he was able to escape, including where he got the money and the combination.

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A man acquitted of a 1979 murder by reason of insanity escaped from a Hawaii psychiatric hospital, flew to Maui, and boarded a plane to the Bay Area has been taken into custody.

59-year-old Randall Saito was arrested in Stockton Wednesday and is being taken to San Joaquin County Jail.

Authorities say Saito left the Hawaii State Hospital on Oahu on Sunday, and took a cab to the airport for a chartered flight to Maui. There, he got on an airliner and arrived in San Jose, California, arriving two hours before the hospital reported him missing.

Late Tuesday night, the Hawaii Attorney General’s office charged Saito with felony escape and issued a $500,000 bench warrant for his arrest.

Saito was committed to the hospital outside Honolulu in 1981 after being acquitted by reason of insanity of the murder of Sandra Yamashiro. She had been shot and repeatedly stabbed before her body was found in her car at a Honolulu shopping mall.