Island’s ‘Most Wanted’ Includes Scammer of Elderly

A man believed to be scamming elderly women is being featured in the “Hawaii Island’s Most Wanted” television show produced by Crime Stoppers.

Police said 42-year-old Nicholas Stevens is suspected of contacting the women in Hilo and Kona and persuading them to hire him to repair their driveways. He then collects the pay in advance and fails to complete the jobs.

Stevens is described as 5-foot-9 and 166 pounds. He is balding, has a thin build and a tan complexion.

The television show also asks for the public’s help locating a Ka`u man wanted on four bench warrants with bail totaling $200,000.

Mario A. Espino is wanted for violating terms of probation relating to convictions for theft and auto theft. He is described as Hispanic, 5-foot-2 and 130 pounds with brown hair and eyes and tattoos on his arms and back.

Espino is likely in the Ocean View area.

The third wanted suspect featured in the show is Albert Aukai Manners, whose case was detailed in a previous Big Island Now report.

Police ask that anyone with information about any of these cases call the Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential. Crime Stoppers does not tape record phone calls or subscribe to caller ID.

“Hawaiʻi Island’s Most Wanted” is a project of Crime Stoppers Hilo, Inc., which is a partnership of the business community, the media and the police. The program inspired by the national TV show, “America’s Most Wanted” airs on Na Leo O Hawaiʻi Community Television Channel 54 on Sundays at 5 p.m. and Fridays at 5:30 p.m. It also airs intermittently on Channel 53.