Mountain View Man Charged With Drug, Firearm Offenses

Joshua Rylan Wamar De Ponte. PC: HPD

Big Island Police have charged Joshua Rylan Wamar De Ponte, 28, of Mountain View, with multiple drug and firearms offenses following an incident late last week.

Shortly after 7 a.m. on the morning of Friday, June 26, Puna Patrol officers responded to a residence on 31st Ave. in Hawaiian Paradise Park after Wamar De Ponte called the police and reported he had been threatened by two males, according to an HPD press release.

Upon making contact with Wamar De Ponte on the roadway fronting the residence, officers observed a modified shotgun on the floor within his vehicle, the police report said. He was placed under arrest for a firearm violation and the vehicle was recovered pending execution of a search warrant.

During the course of the investigation, officers contacted a female at the residence who reported that she and Wamar De Ponte had previously been in a relationship. She reported that he had come to the residence Friday morning and threatened her and others inside the house with a rifle, the police report said.

Detectives with the Area I Criminal Investigation Section obtained a search warrant for the vehicle. The search of the vehicle yielded a modified (sawed-off) shotgun, which had previously been reported stolen, as well as 3.95 grams methamphetamine, and miscellaneous prescription pills, police said.

Police charged Wamar De Ponte with Place to Keep Firearm, Ownership Prohibited, Possession of Prohibited Weapons, Registration Firearm Mandatory, Permit to Acquire, first-degree Theft, two counts of first-degree Terroristic Threatening, third-degree Promotion of a Dangerous Drug, and fourth-degree promotion of a Harmful Drug. His total bail was set at $106,000.

Wamar De Ponte remained in police custody pending his initial court appearance, which was scheduled for Monday, June 29, in South Hilo District Court.