Hawai‘i Island police arrested and charged 43-year-old Paul Pittman of Mountain View with a number of offenses including theft, auto theft, resisting an order to stop, and drug offenses.
 
While conducting beat checks in the Wainaku area on October 16, a Hilo patrol officer observed a parked white Honda Civic sedan occupied by a male driver and female passenger. Upon conducting a vehicle check on his laptop computer, the officer learned that the vehicle had been reported stolen from a Kailua-Kona residence on October 7.
 
When the officer turned around and approached the vehicle, it started up and fled at high speed and was last seen overtaking another motorist. Due to public safety risks, the officer did not further attempt to stop it.
 
Less than an hour later, Hilo patrol officers began responding to numerous reports of a white four-door sedan driving reckless, last seen near a restaurant on Kino‘ole Street.

Recognizing that the vehicle was the same as the one the officer tried to stop earlier in the morning, responding officers located it in the restaurant parking lot, unoccupied.

After conducting a search of the immediate area, officers located a man matching that of the one who fled from officers earlier in the morning, at a convenience store on Kilauea Avenue.
 
Upon being positively identified by the officer who attempted to stop the vehicle earlier, Pittman was arrested for unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and resisting and order to stop.
 
The vehicle was recovered and towed to the South Hilo police station pending the execution of a search warrant. Following the warrant’s execution, detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section recovered .2 grams of methamphetamine, a meth-smoking pipe, and a Washington State identification card of Paul Pittman.
 
After conferring with the County Prosecutors Office, Pittman was charged with the following offenses. His bail was set at $46,000:
•           Unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle (UCPV)
•           First-degree (vehicle) theft
•           Resist order to stop
•           Third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug
 
Police ask anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact Detective Christopher Jelsma of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2386, or via email at christopher.jelsma@hawaiicounty.gov,

HPD Photo