Puna couple charged with firearms, drug offenses after found sleeping in van with rifle

Justin Jay Flores and Theresa Pua Olena Borges, both 41, with were arrested and charged Wednesday afternoon with an array of firearms and drug offenses.  

The charges stem from an incident reported on the morning of April 25, 2023, when Puna Community Policing officers were following up on a report of gunshots being heard the previous evening on Hapu‘u Road in the Nanawale Estates subdivision in Pāhoa on the Big Island.

The caller directed officers to the area where the gunshots were believed to have originated. Officers located a van parked in front of a residence on Hapu’u Road, with two people sleeping inside, later identified as Flores and Borges. Officers also saw a lever action rifle on the vehicle’s floor between them, according to police.

Officers instructed them to exit the vehicle, and then arrested them. The vehicle was recovered as evidence pending execution of a search warrant. Officers also observed spent .22 caliber casings in the area of the parked vehicle, according to police. 

On Wednesday afternoon, after conferring with the County Prosecutor’s Office, detectives charged Flores and Borges with these offenses:

• Place to keep loaded firearm
• Four counts ownership or possession prohibited
• Three counts place to keep ammunition
• Third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug

Bail was set at $141,000 for Flores and Borges.