A prisoner at the Waiawa Correctional Facility has sued the state after a wild boar bit him on the hand at the minimum-security prison in Central O'ahu.

Andrew Kuresa, who is serving the last three months of a five-year sentence, alleges in his lawsuit that while he was waiting in line last April to be served lunch, a pig ran up and bit him on his right hand.

Prison officials treated Kuresa's injury, but it became infected and he had to undergo surgery at The Queen's Medical Center, the lawsuit filed on Friday alleges.

The pig also charged a prison guard, said Kuresa's attorney Daphne Barbee. The state captured the pig, but Barbee said she did not know what happened to the boar.

The boar was known by inmates and guards as Butch, Barbee said.

"It was a totally unprovoked attack," Barbee said. "He had no food in his hand. Now he can't make a fist with his right hand and he has a scar. He was just standing there and it just came up and bit him."

Kuresa is suing the state for negligence and general liability, saying it harbored a wild animal on the grounds and failed to provide a safe environment.

Kuresa is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

State Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said the department has not been served with a copy of the lawsuit, and referred question to the attorney general's office.

Calls to that office by The Advertiser were not returned yesterday.

The minimum security prison is above Mililani Memorial Park in Waiawa and is more like a campground than a prison facility.

Wild boars roam on state-owned public lands on most islands except for Lana'i, said Deborah Ward, state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman.

Wild pigs average 150 to 160 pounds, with shoulder height of 3 feet and a body length of 60-plus inches.

Ward said there's no known estimate on the number of wild pigs in the state.

"We advise that people not feed wild pigs because they can become acclimated and unafraid of people and more aggressive in their behavior," Ward said. "Mostly they're afraid of people."