Judge Authorizes Saito’s Extradition to Hawai‘i

Randall Toshio Saito booking photo courtesy: San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office

A mental health patient who allegedly escaped from the Hawaiʻi State Hospital facility in November, has been served with papers authorizing his extradition back to Hawaiʻi from California.

Randall T Saito was served on Friday, Dec. 22, in San Joaquin Superior Court with a Governor’s Warrant, issued by the State of California, authorizing his extradition.

The Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General has made arrangements with the United States Marshal’s Service to have Saito returned to Hawaiʻi on a non-commercial flight. In Hawaiʻi, Saito will face felony escape charges for allegedly leaving the Hawaiʻi State Hospital on Nov. 12, 2017.

The report sparked a manhunt on Maui and the mainland after information surfaced that he booked a charter flight to the neighbor islands and then proceeded to California.  Saito was committed to the hospital after being acquitted for first-degree murder in 1981.

San Joaquin County Judge Michael Mulvihill set a status conference for Jan. 5, 2018 to track arrangements for Saito’s physical transfer back to Hawaiʻi.

Separate administrative and criminal investigations of the circumstances related to the Nov. 12, 2017, incident involving Saito are ongoing.