Man charged in machete robbery, car theft

A Hilo man, 40-year-old Keone Balai, has been arrested and charged in relation to a robbery involving a machete and the theft of a Honda Civic that occurred on Oct. 26 outside of a Hawaiian Beaches residence.

Police later located the Honda Civic, executed a search warrant, and recovered a Remington Improved Model 6 .22 caliber rifle with a shortened barrel and a glass pipe containing methamphetamine residue.

Balai, who remains in custody in lieu of $126,000 bail, is scheduled to make his initial appearance on Tuesday afternoon in Hilo District Court.

Balai was charged with nine counts including Theft in the First Degree (theft of a motor vehicle, a Honda Civic), Robbery in the Second Degree, Unauthorized Control of a Propelled Vehicle in the First Degree, Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the Third Degree (possess any amount of methamphetamine), Ownership or Possession of Firearm Prohibited (prohibited based on prior convictions for felony offenses and crimes of violence), Place to Keep Unloaded Firearms Other Than Pistols and Revolvers, Ownership Prohibited (possess and/or acquire a rifle with a barrel length less than sixteen inches), Habitual Property Crime, and Driving Without a License.

Robbery in the Second Degree, Theft in the First Degree, and Ownership or Possession of a Firearm Prohibited are all class B felony offenses which carries a penalty of either a ten-year prison term or four years probation and up to eighteen months in jail.