A District Court judge today ruled that probable cause exists for the prosecution of a 19-year-old homeless man accused of carjacking.
Alkapone Cruz- Balles, formerly of Mountain View, is now scheduled to appear before Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hara at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 6.
Cruz-Balles has been charged with first-degree robbery and auto theft for allegedly threatening 24-year-old Alexander Guimaraes with a knife in the parking lot of the Hilo Target store and stealing his 2013 Hyundai sedan on July 17.
Cruz-Balles was arrested late that night at Isaac Hale Beach Park in lower Puna. With him at the time was a 14-year-old described as his girlfriend. She was among those attending today’s preliminary hearing, which prompted Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Shiigi to invoke the witness exclusion rule which required her to leave the courtroom.
The rule is used to ensure potential witnesses don’t hear other testimony in the case.
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