Father and Son Charged in Connection With Assault on Officer

HPD officials today charged a Puna man and his son for using force against an officer in connection with a domestic abuse case that occurred in Pahoa on Aug. 10.

While police were responding to the initial abuse report at a Hawaiian Beaches park on Saturday, Christopher Thomas Gonsalves, 48, allegedly struck and threatened an officer before fleeing the scene of the crime.

According to police, his son, Gordon A.E. Gonsalves, 21, also used force against an officer to aid in his father’s escape. The younger Gonsalves was arrested on Tuesday morning, Aug. 13 in Pahoa.

Police had located the elder Gonsalves at approximately 5:40 a.m. off of Ono Street in Hawaiian Beaches on Aug. 11. He was found hiding in a brush-covered area, and was arrested and transported to the Hilo police cellblock.

Gordon Gonsalves was charged today in connection with an assault on a police officer. HPD image.

Christopher Gonsalves, who is a resident of Pahoa, has been charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, abuse of a family/household member, and assaulting a police officer. His bail has been set for $21,000.

Gordon Gonsalves, also a Pahoa resident, has been charged with second-degree hindering of prosecution for using force against an officer. His bail has been set at $500.

Both men are being held at the Hilo police cellblock pending an initial court appearance on Aug. 14.

Correction: Big Island Now mis-stated that 21-year-old Gordon Gonsalves was wanted by police on two outstanding warrants, and in connection with a burglary at an apartment complex in Hilo. An HPD official has clarified that 27-year-old Christopher Gonsalves (brother to Gordon Gonsalves) was arrested for those offenses on the same morning as his father, 48-year-old Christopher Gonsalves. Both men were located in the area of Ono Street in Hawaiian Beaches on the morning of Aug. 11.