Inmate Dies After Hit-And-Run During Jail Escape

In a Florianapolis prison, a group of geese alerts the surveillance team if an inmate attempts to escape

Authorities on Kauai are still searching for the driver of a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run incident that resulted in the death of an inmate who had escaped from the Kauai Community Correctional Center. The inmate, identified as a 33-year-old man named Matthew J. Ornellas Jr., had fled the facility last Friday and was hit by a car while running on the highway.

According to officials at the correctional center, Ornellas managed to scale a fence with razor wire, prompting correctional officers to give chase. However, they lost sight of him shortly after the escape. Moments later, a loud sound was heard, leading officers to discover Ornellas on the highway, approximately 100 yards away from the jail, with serious injuries.

Inmate Matthew J. Ornellas Jr. escaped from Kauai Community Correctional Center.

Authorities searching for hit-and-run driver after inmate's death.

Ornellas scaled fence with razor wire, was hit by a car on highway.

Kauai police reported that Ornellas was running in the wrong direction on Kuhio Highway when he was struck by a vehicle. The inmate was serving time for a drug conviction, as confirmed by the Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is currently conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ornellas' escape and subsequent death. Ornellas, described as a minimum-security inmate at the Kauai Community Correctional Center, succumbed to his injuries last week.