Cabatu Named East Hawai’i ‘Officer of the Month’

Officer Jared Cabatu was recently named East Hawai’i October “Officer of the Month” by the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawai’i.

The honor followed Officer Cabatu’s role in solving two auto theft cases.

A traffic stop just after midnight on Aug. 17 led to the recovery of two vehicles that had been previously reported stolen.

Officer Cabatu pulled a man over on Hoaka Road. The vehicle being driven had an expired weight tax and other expired tags. In addition, the vehicle had a current safety sticker that was registered to a Jeep Cherokee that had been stolen.

An investigation by Officer Cabatu led him to the driveway of a nearby house, where he had previously seen the van parked. At the location, Officer Cabatu observed a second Jeep Cherokee that had been stolen.

The Hawai’i Police Department looked into the stolen vehicles and found that the theft of both Jeeps was tied to a man who was already in police custody for a different vehicle case.

According to Lieutenant Alan Kimura, the recovery of both the stolen vehicles were attributed to Officer Cabatu’s investigative skills.

Now that he has earned the “Officer of the Month” title, Office Cabatu is eligible for “Officer of the Year.”

The Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawai’i conducts the East Hawai’i “Officer of the Month” project.