July 15—The search comes eight days after Christopher Ikaika Vaefaga Jr., 36, was found dead in an OCCC living unit after allegedly being beaten by two other inmates.
A search for contraband Friday morning at the Oahu Community Correctional Center led to criminal and internal investigations after an undisclosed number of items were taken from inmates.
The search comes eight days after a 36-year-old man was found dead in an OCCC living unit after he was allegedly beaten by two other inmates.
The Honolulu Police Department opened a homicide investigation after his body was discovered and identified the two alleged suspects who were in the same apartment as Vaefaga before his death.
Vae faga “may have been assaulted by two other male inmates”, according to HPD, who are aged 41 and 33, police said.
Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the state Department of Public Safety and the state Department of Law Enforcement, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that contraband searches are common at all facilities. and that Friday’s search was scheduled.
It was a coordinated effort with the Department of the Attorney General, the Sheriff’s Division and the DPS’s Narcotics and Internal Affairs Division, Schwartz said.
“As part of the Department of Public Safety’s efforts to remain vigilant against the introduction of contraband into correctional facilities, a contraband search was conducted at the Oahu Community Correctional Center. Undisclosed contraband items were recovered Internal and criminal investigations have been opened. No further information can be released at this time,” Schwartz said.
The DPS did not release the number of investigations opened, but said they were in “preliminary stages”.
Located on 16 acres in Honolulu, the 950-bed OCCC is Hawaii’s largest prison.
It both houses pretrial detainees and offers rehabilitation programs for convicted men, according to the DPS.
“To protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation, we respectfully decline to comment at this time,” read a statement from the Ministry of the Attorney General.
The HPD homicide investigation and an internal investigation by the Department of Public Security were opened after Vaefaga was found in his cell around 8:30 p.m. on July 6.
HPD officers responded to the OCCC “about a defibrillator type case for an unresponsive inmate” shortly after 8:40 p.m. that evening. OCCC medical and security personnel had responded to a “call for medical assistance” and found Vaefaga unconscious and unresponsive.
Staff administered first aid and CPR. A medical examiner arrived and pronounced Vaefaga dead at 9:26 p.m.
Vaefaga, who had 89 arrests and citations dating back to 2004, was at the OCCC awaiting trial on felony charges of second-degree assault on a person 60 or older and a misdemeanor charge of harassment involving insults and taunts.
The assault charge relates to a March 7 incident involving a woman, and the harassment charge relates to a separate incident on the same day involving a man.
The court was officially notified on July 12 of Vaefaga’s death.
In January, Vaefaga was cited for having an unauthorized structure on the sidewalk in Chinatown, suggesting he was homeless, according to state records. It had no local address at the time.
The State Attorney General’s Department has jurisdiction over the case.
HPD’s Criminal Investigations Division – Homicide Detail and its forensic investigation section assisted in the initial investigation, police said.
No arrests were made.