Hawai‘i County Police Officer Noah Serrao recently pleaded no contest to the criminal charges of Perjury, False Swearing in Official Matters and Tampering with a Government Record.
Serrao asked the presiding court to defer acceptance of his no contest pleas.
The charges stemmed from an unconstitutional search of an arrestee’s belongings inside the Hilo Police Station. Serrao later made false statements about the unconstitutional search to a presiding judge in an Application for Judicial Determination of Probable Cause for Warrantless Arrest and for the Extended Restraint of Liberty of Warrantless Arrestee.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of the Attorney General’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division (SIPD) and the Hawai‘i County Police Department.
Perjury is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. False Swearing in Official Matters and Tampering with a Government Record are misdemeanor offenses punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 30, 2026.