The Hawaiʻi Police Department (HPD) formed a new task force to up efforts over the last two weeks to bring in suspects on outstanding warrants, as well as those connected to crimes including auto thefts, drugs and firearm possession, according to a departmental release.
Police have arrested and charged eight suspects after serving arrest warrants. The suspects apprehended are from the Hilo and Puna districts, the release continued.
Police arrested and charged Wailani Kenui, Natasia Fontes, Bronson Oili, Lance Ishibashi, Kuuipo Kalani, Brandon Cabral, Jadelin Grammer and Jason Mitchell with arrest warrants.
The warrant service is part of a focus aimed at deterring crime and crime prevention with suspects identified involvement in serious crimes. Police have used arrest warrants in the removal of these suspects as a means of trying to get the offenders off the street, the release stated.
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“The primary goal of this task force is to identify the offenders that have ties to offenses involving drugs, auto thefts or potentially having possession of firearms, and apprehend them as quickly as possible before we have bigger issues,” said South Hilo Patrol Captain Kenneth Quiocho.
“The Puna District is our neighbor, so Captain Briski (Puna Patrol District Commander) and I collaborated and elected to work on our crime issues together,” he continued. “We assembled a task force focusing on lowering the crime in the districts. It has been very effective thus far, and it’s a work in progress.”
HPD recently investigated several incidents involving Joshua Hams who wreaked havoc in several districts while in possession of a firearm before being apprehended in Kona.
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Earlier in the week, police also arrested and charged a Hilo man after finding him in possession of a rifle. A search warrant executed on the truck he was operating resulted in the recovery of another rifle, ammunition and drugs.
This information was provided by the authorities. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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