Volcano Woman Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison on Slew of Charges

A Big Island woman will serve more than three years in prison after being sentenced for what prosecutors called a “brazen crime spree.”

Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen announced in a news release that 26 year-old Tearon Teashell, aka “TT” Pacheco-Fernandez, of Volcano, who had no prior felony convictions, was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for a series of crimes that occurred in 2019 and 2020. The court also ordered that Pacheco-Fernandez serve a mandatory minimum of three years and four months without the possibility of parole.

“Here, a prison term is the only just result and appropriate punishment to reflect the seriousness of these offenses, promote respect for the law, deter future criminal conduct and protect our community,” said Waltjen in the news release. “Despite her age and not having any prior felony convictions, (the) defendant was involved in a brazen crime spree of offenses, including two robberies, where she utilized pepper spray and a 12-gauge shotgun; a residential burglary; and a criminal property damage case, where she drove a Toyota Tacoma into two cars while fleeing from police in a crowded Hilo parking lot.”

According to the release, on Nov. 3, 2021, Pacheco-Fernandez entered guilty pleas to two charges of second-degree robbery and a single count each of ownership prohibited, firearm on highway and first-degree burglary in relation to two separate robbery incidents at the Target store and Burger King located on East Makaʻala Street in Hilo and a residential burglary in Panaʻewa, all of which occurred on March 6, 2020.

Pacheco-Fernandez also pleaded no contest to two charges of first-degree criminal property damage, first-degree terroristic threatening and first-degree resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle in relation to a resist order to stop incident that occurred Nov. 27, 2019, within the parking lot of KTA Superstores on Puainako Street in Hilo and third-degree accomplice to theft in relation to a theft from a Puna residence that occurred between May 19 and 20, 2019.

The investigations were initiated by the Puna, South Hilo and South Kohala Patrols of the Hawaiʻi Police Department and the arrest and follow-up investigation were handled by the HPD’s Area I Criminal Investigation Section. The case was prosecuted by Waltjen.