Hilo man charged with burglary, auto theft

A Hilo man faces several property and drug-related charges after he was found sleeping in a stolen truck.

After conferring with the Hawai’i County prosecutors office, police on Jan. 4 charged 42-year-old Nathan Kalani Ni‘ihau with the following offenses:

• Unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle.
• First-degree theft.
• Second-degree burglary.
• Two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
• Two counts of unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.
• Habitual property crime.

His bail was set at $95,000. Ni‘ihau remained in police custody pending his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon.

On Jan. 3, South Hilo patrol officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle parked on Nowelo Street in Hilo. Responding officers located the vehicle, which was identified as a pickup truck belonging to the state of Hawai‘i. Ni‘ihau was located sleeping in the truck’s driver’s seat.

He was arrested without incident and the vehicle was recovered pending execution of a search warrant.

During the course of the investigation, personnel with the Hawai‘i Police Department’s Area I Special Enforcement Unit determined the truck was reported stolen in a burglary Dec. 27, 2022, on Lanikaula Street in Hilo.

Upon execution of a search warrant on the vehicle, officers recovered 1.64 grams methamphetamine, 0.67 of a gram of heroine and stolen forms of identification from two separate individuals. Additionally, police were able to identify Ni‘ihau as the suspect to the Lanikaula Street burglary from where the truck was stolen.