Hawai‘i Island police arrested 36-year-old Jason Leroy Kime following a nearly six hour-long stand-off at a Hilo business Tuesday night. Shortly after 5pm, Area I Crime Reduction Unit and Criminal Investigation Section members received information that Kime was located within a self-storage facility on Kalanikoa Street. As police responded to the business, they were able to confirm that Kime was on the property. He then verbally threatened them as he locked and barricaded himself within a storage unit. Due to the circumstances and threats made by Kime, the department’s Special Response Team and Crisis Negotiators responded to assist in apprehending Kime. The storage facility was also evacuated, and Kalanikoa Street was closed between Kuawa Street and Piilani Street. Kime, who is from Oʻahu, is believed to have been on Hawai’i Island for a couple of weeks and was being sought by police for a series of offenses including a violent Hilo home-invasion robbery that left a 72-year-old female injured and a residential burglary and vehicle theft also in Hilo.. Special Response Crisis Negotiation Team negotiators verbally engaged with Kime in attempts to peacefully resolve the situation; however, Kime refused to exit the facility. During the course of the incident, Kime managed to breach the unit’s drywall barrier and enter into two additional bays of the facility. After negotiations failed, Special Response Team members entered the facility and Kime was taken into custody. A female acquaintance of Kime, 30-year-old Luwika Hauanio, of Hilo, was also arrested in connection to the incident, as she on the property and operating a stolen vehicle, which she used to intentionally strike a subsidized police vehicle at the scene. There were no reported injuries as a result of this incident.
Kime and Hauanio remain in custody while Area I Criminal Investigation Division personnel continue the investigation.
Search warrants are being drafted for the stolen vehicle Kime and Hauanio were operating, as well as the storage unit rented by Kime.
HPD Photo