AEC Names Two Officers of the Month for July 2019

Officer Wyatt Kaili Leong (left) and Recruit Officer Sayaalii Baker (right). HPD courtesy photo.

Officer Wyatt Kaili-Leong and recruit officer Sayaali’i Baker have been recognized by the Aloha Exchange Club as the officers of the month for July 2019.

Kaili-Leong—an eight-year veteran of the Hawai‘i Police Department—is a field training officer who is training Baker. Both officers were selected for their outstanding work in felony crime investigations, attention to detail  often leading to arrests and charges.

In early July, Kaili-Leong and Baker conducted a traffic stop for a traffic violation. While interacting with the driver, Baker recognized an item in the vehicle that was reported stolen during a school burglary nine days prior. The vehicle also resembled the one captured in surveillance footage from the theft. The officers then recognized other items in the vehicle that were reported in a separate burglary at the same school earlier that day. Both the driver and passenger were arrested for burglary and theft; the driver was later charged with two counts of second-degree burglary.

On July, Kaili-Leong helped process another officer’s arrestee when he discovered a reusable thermal bag with frozen goods. The arrestee was later recognized as a suspect seen running from a property in Hawaiian Paradise Park. Kaili-Leong remembered that the individual and one other person were responsible for a burglary in June involving the theft of food. Baker contacted the victim where the arrestee was spotted and confirmed that the bag of frozen goods was taken from her attached garage without permission. Kaili-Leong’s interrogation skills led to the arrestee admitting to three burglary reports. The arrestee was subsequently charged with three counts of burglary, three counts of theft, three counts of habitual property crimes and two counts of criminal property damage. His total bail was set at $110,000.