Hilo Man Charged in New Year’s Terroristic Threatening

Three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening charges are faced by a 53-year-old Hilo man in connection to an incident that occurred in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.

On Thursday, Jan. 1, South Hilo Patrol officers responded to reports of a man, identified as John Gouveia, who used a hunting knife in a threatening manner to attempt to stab a 43-year-old man on the 800 block of Kaiwiki Road in Hilo. It was reported that the suspect then used a sports-utility vehicle to attempt to run the victim over.

According to the HPD, two neighbors went to investigate, a 28-year-old man and a 35-year-old man. The suspect attempted to him them with the vehicle as well.

Shortly after the incident, police found Gouveia and arrested him off of Wainaku Street. He was taken to the Hilo police cellblock while Area I Criminal Investigations Section detectives continued the investigation.

Gouveia was charged with three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening on Friday at 6:10 p.m. His bail was set at $30,000 and he remained at the cellblock pending his initial court appearance on Monday.