A Kona jury found 25 year-old Tyson I. Zwicker of Kona guilty as charged of Habitually Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant. The case stemmed from an incident that occurred on December 3, 2021 on Luhia Street in Kona.

Following the reading of the verdict, Zwicker, who remains out of custody after posting $2,000 bail, was ordered to return for his sentencing hearing on July 25 in Kona Circuit Court.

During the trial, officers testified that prior to his arrest, Zwicker displayed signs of intoxication including red, watery, and glassy eyes, and the odor of an intoxicating beverage. Officer later obtained Zwicker’s breath alcohol content which was 0.152 grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath, nearly twice the legal limit. He has two prior convictions for Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant within the past year. Those incidents occurred on January 29, 2021 and April 28, 2021. Habitually Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant is a class C felony which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.

A “habitual operator of a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant” is a person convicted one or more times within a 10 year period for the offense of Habitually Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant, or a person convicted two or more times within a 10 year period of the offense of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant.

The investigation was handled by Officers Eli Cayetano and Victoria De Jesus Monteiro, Kona Patrol, Hawai‘i Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Kauanoe Jackson and Nicole Bowman.

Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office