July Officer of the Month in West Hawai‘i recognized for arrests that led to charges in fraud, theft cases

Hawai‘i Island police officer Charles Caldwell-Kaai was honored by the Kona Crime Prevention Committee as July’s Officer of the Month for arrests he made that led to charges, such as credit card fraud, being filed.

A Kona Patrol officer, Caldwell-Kaai was recognized for arrests he made on March 3. He was patrolling his beat when he observed a woman acting suspiciously while parked in the parking lot of a shopping center in the 75-5000 block of Palani Road in Kailua-Kona.

He discovered that the woman was from Kea‘au and had two outstanding Parras warrants. Caldwell-Kaai was able to arrest her without incident. She was ultimately charged with the following:

• Two counts of felony habitual property crime
• Two counts of felony theft/forgery of credit card
• Two counts of felony unauthorized possession of personal/confidential information
• Two counts of felony second-degree identity theft
• Two counts of felony second-degree theft
• Two counts of felony fraudulent use of a credit card
• Three counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree theft

The woman’s bail was set at $225,000. Officials say by arresting the wanted criminal, Caldwell-Kaai stopped her from potentially committing more crimes in Kona.

Later that same morning, while responding to a domestic incident in the 73-4000 block of Kakahiaka Street in Kailua-Kona, Officer Caldwell-Kaai observed a white Jeep fronting the residential building.

Aware that his beat partner had received a report an auto theft involving the Jeep two hours earlier, Officer Caldwell-Kaai approached the vehicle and found two women inside it. Officer Caldwell-Kaai discovered evidence within the vehicle that led to the driver being charged with:

• First-degree felony theft
• Second-degree felony promotion of a dangerous drug
• Felony theft of credit card
• Three counts of felony unauthorized possession of personal/confidential information
• Five counts of theft of mail

This was a complex investigation with multiple offenses and various victims, normally handled by detectives. Working an 18-hour shift, Officer Caldwell-Kaai, with the help of his beat partner, completed the investigation that night resulting in the above charges being filed.

“As a supervisor, Officer Caldwell-Kaai is the kind of officer I want on my watch,” said Acting Sergeant Kyung Yu, who nominated Officer Caldwell-Kaai. “As a patrol officer, he is the kind of officer I want as a beat mate and as a member of the community, Officer Caldwell-Kaai is the kind of officer I want patrolling my neighborhood.”

A member of the 92nd recruit class, this is the third time Officer Caldwell-Kaai has received the KCPC Officer of the Month during his four-year tenure with the department. He also received the Hawai‘i State Law Enforcement Officials Association Officer of the Year award for 2020 for his outstanding efforts to reduce crime in his community.

Every month the Kona Crime Prevention Committee honors a police officer in west Hawai‘i as their Officer of the Month. Officers are nominated by their supervisors from the various police districts and a winner is selected by the KCPC board of directors.

All officers selected for Officer of the Month are eligible to be selected as the Kona Crime Prevention Committee’s Officer of the Year.