Work furlough inmate fails to return to HCCC

The state Department of Public Safety is looking for a work furlough inmate who failed to return from furlough to the Hawaii Community Correctional Center’s Hale Nani Reintegration Center.

DPS today said Mark Kahalewai, 65, is serving time for first-degree assault and faces an added escape charge when found. He was scheduled to return to the center at 2 p.m. as part of a work furlough program that offers offenders reintegration services and a work release program for sentenced inmates on Hawaii island.

Kahalewai is described as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 185 pounds. He has brown eyes and is bald with a gray goatee or mustache.

His next parole hearing was scheduled for Thursday.