Suspect in Hilo standoff charged with array of offenses

Hawai‘i police have charged 36-year-old Jason Leroy Kime with an array of additional offenses following the nearly six-hour-long standoff on Kalanikoa Street in Hilo, on Tuesday night.

Prior to Tuesday night’s standoff, Kime had been sought by police for several weeks after being identified as a suspect in various cases islandwide, including a violent home invasion in Hilo that left a 72-year-old woman injured.

Kime had two outstanding arrest warrants; one was for the violent home invasion robbery in Hilo on April 20, that left a 72-year-old female injured. The other incident occurred on April 21, in Hilo, involving a residential burglary and vehicle theft. The 36-year-old O‘ahu man had only been on the island for a couple of weeks.

Prosecutors charged him for incidents that occurred on April 26 and on April 30.

The first incident occurred on Moho Road, in Mountain View. The 72-year-old victim in this case reported that his residence was broken into and numerous items were removed, including the keys to his vehicle, which was also stolen. Kime was later identified operating the stolen vehicle. Several days later on April 30, Puna patrol officers responded to a vehicle fire on 5th Avenue in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Kea‘au. Officers located the vehicle, which was fully engulfed, and confirmed it was the vehicle stolen from Moho Road.

Another incident also occurred on April 30 in Hawaiian Paradise Park on Paradise Ala Kai Drive. The 72-year-old victim in this case also reported that her residence was broken into and numerous items were removed, including a firearm and the keys to her vehicle, which was also stolen. Kime was also identified operating this vehicle, and it was recovered upon his initial arrest on Tuesday in Hilo.

In connection to these two incidents, Kime was charged with the following:

• Three counts first-degree theft
• Two counts first-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle (UCPV)
• First-degree burglary
• First-degree arson
• Third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug

Bail for these charges was set at $180,000. In addition to these recent charges against Kime, on May 2, he was arrested and charged for his two outstanding arrest warrants for various felony offenses, with bail being set at $123,000.

Kime was apprehended by police Tuesday night after barricading himself within a self-storage facility on Kalanikoa Street for several hours. After verbal threats were made to shoot officers, the police department’s Special Response Team and Crisis Negotiators responded to assist. When negotiations failed, the Special Response Team entered the storage facility and took Kime into custody.

A female acquaintance of Kime, 30-year-old Luwika Hauanio, of Hilo, was also arrested in connection to this incident. She was on the property and operating the vehicle reported stolen on April 30, which she used to intentionally strike a subsidized police vehicle at the scene. There were no reported injuries as a result of this incident.

• Hauanio was also charged for the following offenses:
• Second-degree unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle (UCPV)
• Third-degree criminal property damage
• Third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug

Her bail was set at $3,000.

In addition to the plethora of offenses Kime was charged with, the Area I Crime Reduction Unit is completing several additional investigations where Kime was identified as the suspect. Upon completion, these cases will be forwarded to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.