Man Charged With Nine Crimes in Multiple Incidents

A former Pahoa resident was charged with nine offenses including criminal property damage for allegedly ramming a vehicle into a Puna home last weekend, police said.

Bail for Phillip Jon Richardson, 27, was set at $83,000 following his arrest Saturday night at a home on 18^th Avenue in Hawaiian Paradise Park.

Police said Richardson, who has no permanent address, was charged Monday with two counts of attempted robbery, one count of phone ripping, one count of impersonating a law enforcement officer, two counts of burglary, one count of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, one count of criminal property damage and one count of resisting an order to stop.

In one incident in which Richardson was involved, he allegedly identified himself as a police officer and demanded the keys to the car of a woman who was dropping off a relative at the house.

The 28-year-old woman told police that when the suspect tried to pull her out of the car, a 76-year-old relative in her vehicle tried to call 911 but Richardson took the phone from him.

The woman then used her cell phone to call a 29-year-old man for assistance. When that man arrived, Richardson allegedly tried to open his door, and when he was unable to do so left the scene in a pickup truck.

A short time later, police received a report of a pickup truck ramming into a house on 17^th avenue. A 36-year-old resident told police she saw the driver of the truck entering the home through a window.

As officers arrived, Richardson fled the scene in the pickup truck which he later abandoned and fled on foot into the bushes.

The occupant of the home discovered that a safe had been stolen and items were removed from a vehicle.

Police also received a report from a 63-year-old man living on 1^st Avenue that a pickup truck had pulled up at his property and a male suspect forced his way into the home and stole a computer before fleeing.

No one was seriously injured during the incidents, police said.