Police charge Hilo man in criminal property investigation

Hawai‘i Island police have charged 33-year-old Gregory Douglas Kama, of Hilo, following a terroristic threatening and criminal property damage incident that led to his arrest on Monday morning in Hilo.

At approximately 8 a.m. on Sept. 11, officers responded to a trespassing report involving a male in a gray pickup truck in the parking of an apartment complex in the 100 block of Banyan Drive, in Hilo.

Upon arrival, officers saw the truck parked and as they approached it, the driver, later identified as Kama, started up the truck and accelerated out of the parking lot without warning.

The truck nearly struck an employee at the complex. It crashed into a wooden barrel, a maintenance vehicle, and two police vehicles. The officers and the employee were not injured.

The vehicle fled on Banyan Drive before entering the parking lot of a nearby hotel. The driver abandoned the truck and fled on foot before being located and arrested by officers.

The truck had been reported stolen from Kona on Aug. 28, 2023.

Kama was arrested on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening and second-degree criminal property damage, and remained in police custody while detectives with the Area I Criminal Investigation Section continued the investigation.

After conferring with the County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday evening, detectives with the Area I Criminal Investigation Section charged Kama with the following offenses and his total bail was set at $76,000:

• Three counts of second-degree criminal property damage  
• Fourth-degree criminal property damage 
• Unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle
• First degree theft (auto theft)
• Third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug (methamphetamine-smoking pipe)

Kama is currently being held at the Hawai‘i Police Department East Hawaii Detention Center pending his initial court appearance scheduled for Sept. 13.