HILO, Hawai'i — A handcuffed inmate who bolted from a prison van at a busy downtown Hilo intersection yesterday was fatally shot in the head by a corrections officer, witnesses said.

Police said the inmate, identified as Thane K. Leialoha, 28, of Hilo, was pronounced dead at 5:56 p.m. at Hilo Medical Center. The shooting happened on a street in the business district between a health club and an Italian restaurant.

Police blocked off the area around the intersection at Haili Street and Kilauea Avenue for about three hours while investigating the alleged escape attempt and the shooting.

Peter Cabreros, acting warden at Hawai'i Community Correctional Center, said the van was returning to the jail when the incident occurred. Department of Public Safety vans regularly shuttle inmates between HCCC and the Hilo State Building for court appearances.

A news release by the state Department of Public Safety said Leialoha was shot by an HCCC corrections officer while trying to escape at about 1 p.m. Leialoha was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Police ordered an autopsy.

Hawaiian Beaches resident Sheldon Haili, 30, said he was on the sidewalk fronting Spencer Health and Fitness Center at the intersection of Haili and Kilauea when he saw a handcuffed man in a brown jumpsuit run from a van stopped in the street. Haili said he recognized the inmate as an acquaintance. He said the fleeing man ran 10 to 15 yards toward the ocean when a uniformed corrections officer fired one shot from a pistol, striking the inmate in the back of the head.

The inmate dropped to the pavement and was motionless, he said. The corrections officer ran to the downed prisoner and sat on him to restrain him before holstering his pistol and dialing a wireless phone, Haili said.

"I was telling him, 'Why you gotta shoot him in the head? Why you never shoot him in the leg?' " Haili said. "He said, 'Just get away from here.' "

Haili said the prisoner was handcuffed, but did not have foot shackles.

Krissa Kealoha, 18, was working at the Kilauea 76 Station across the street when she heard a single shot and looked out the window.

She said the side door to the prison van was ajar and the driver jumped out and sprinted around the front of the vehicle to hold the side door shut to prevent about a half-dozen other inmates from exiting.

"It was pretty fast," she said.

Leialoha had a criminal history that included eight convictions, according to the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center.

He had been held at the Hawai'i Community Correctional Center since Sunday for violating terms of his parole, according to the Department of Public Safety.

On Dec. 12, 2002, Leialoha was sentenced to five years in prison after he was found guilty of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, court records show. Last October, he was found guilty of failing to make a court appearance and contempt of court and received a seven-day sentence.

In August 1998, Leialoha was found guilty of second-degree assault and second-degree robbery, both felonies, and sentenced to one year in prison and five years probation. He also was ordered to pay $2,278 in restitution.

In August 2001, a summons was issued for Leialoha's arrest after he violated terms of his probation, according to court records. A Big Island judge resentenced him to a year in prison and five years probation.

Yesterday's incident was not the first time Big Isle corrections officers have used gunfire in an attempt to stop an escapee.

On Jan. 28, 2005, guards were escorting HCCC inmate Winston Hoapili to an appointment at the Ponahawai Medical Clinic near the jail when he jumped into a waiting car and sped away. One of the guards fired a single shot at the vehicle, but no one was injured. Hoapili was captured Feb. 10, 2005.

The most recent escape by an HCCC prisoner occurred March 6 when inmate Arthur Clayton bolted from the Hilo Medical Center emergency room. He was caught March 28.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.