Mountain View woman charged with attempted assault of police officer after incident where she repeatedly tried to bite him

A Mountain View woman has been arrested and charged with attempted assault of a police officer and several drug charges after fighting with and repeatedly trying to bite the arm of a Big Island police officer during an incident late last week in Puna.

The Hawai’i Police Department says 36-year-old Florelynn Ito is charged with:

• First-degree attempted assault police officer.
• First-degree promotion of a harmful drug.
• Second-degree attempted promotion of a dangerous drug.
• Two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
• Resisting arrest.

Ito’s bail was set at $215,000. Her initial court appearance was Monday afternoon in Hilo District Court, where her bail was maintained and she was ordered to return to district court Feb. 7 for a preliminary hearing.

She remains in custody at the East Hawai‘i Detention Facility in Hilo.

At 10:40 a.m. Feb. 2, a Puna patrol officer observed a white Toyota Tacoma truck parked in front of a business in Mountain View. Conducting a check of the vehicle, the officer learned there was an outstanding “Be On The Lookout” notice requesting to contact and identify the driver of the Toyota because police had recently attempted to stop the vehicle and its operator refused and fled.

As the officer approached the truck, he observed Ito sitting alone in the driver seat. The officer was familiar with Ito through prior contacts and knew she had three outstanding arrest warrants.

Ito refused the officer’s commands to exit the vehicle, instead turning the vehicle on and attempting to reverse and flee the area. As the officer reached into the truck and turned it off, repeatedly attempted to bite his forearm, continued fighting with him and resisting arrest.

As this unfolded, the officer observed a zip packet on the driver seat, which he thought to be illegal narcotics. As other officers arrived at the scene, Ito was removed from the truck and arrested.

Along with the other offenses, Ito was also arrested for her outstanding warrants.

She was transported to the East Hawai‘i Detention Facility, where she was detained as police continued their investigation. Ito’s Toyota was recovered and towed to the Hilo Police Station, pending the execution of a search warrant.

Later Friday, detectives executed a search warrant on the truck and recovered more than 2 grams of powdered fentanyl, along with 151 buprenorphine naloxone pills.

Anyone who might have information about this incident is asked to contact Officer Wyatt Kaili-Leong at 808-961-2203 or via email at wyatt.kaili-leong@hawaiicounty.gov.