Man Charged with 20 Offenses Following Handgun Threat

The Hawai‘i Police Department has charged a Captain Cook man with 20 offenses following an argument involving a handgun in Kona.

Kona police officers arrived at the parking lot of a retail store on the 75-1000 block of Henry Street at 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday.  A witness reported hearing an argument between a man and woman in a Dodge Charger and the woman screaming about a gun.

A patrol officer stopped a Charger matching the vehicle’s description on Ane Keohokalole Highway.  He found a handgun in the vehicle and arrested the two occupants on suspicion of place to keep a handgun.

Duane K. Grace, 40, of Captain Cook, and Radiance A. Whigham, 31, of Kailua-Kona, were taken to the Kona police cellblock while the investigation continued.

Officers investigating the parking lot found a Honda sedan idling which had been driven by Grace.  Inside the vehicle, they found a cut straw with residue.  Police recovered the car as evidence.

After serving search warrants on both vehicles, officers from the Area II Criminal Investigations and Vice sections recovered a loaded handgun, 50 rounds of ammunition, 17.3 grams of meth, 6.8 grams of marijuana, 30 Alprazolam pills, 16 additional cut pieces of the pills, and assorted drug paraphernalia.

Whigham was released on Wednesday without charges.  The investigation revealed that the couple knew one another but Grace had forced himself into Whigham’s car and threatened her with a gun.

On Thursday morning, May 21, Grace was charged with kidnapping, robbery, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, parole violation, promoting a harmful drug, promoting a detrimental drug, four counts of promoting a dangerous drug, four counts of drug paraphernalia and six weapons offenses. His bail was set at $383,000.

Grace remains at the Kona cellblock pending his initial court appearance on Friday, May 22.