40 year-old Keone Balai of Hilo was arrested and charged in relation to an October 26 robbery involving a machete and theft of a Honda Civic that occurred outside of a Hawaiian Beaches residence.

HPD later located the Honda Civic, executed a search warrant, and recovered a Remington Improved Model 6 .22 caliber rifle with a shortened barrel and a glass pipe containing methamphetamine residue.

As the Complaint alleges, Balai was charged with nine counts including Theft in the First Degree (theft of a motor vehicle, a Honda Civic), Robbery in the Second Degree, Unauthorized Control of a Propelled Vehicle in the First Degree, Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the Third Degree (possess any amount of methamphetamine), Ownership or Possession of Firearm Prohibited (prohibited based on prior convictions for felony offenses and crimes of violence), Place to Keep Unloaded Firearms Other Than Pistols and Revolvers, Ownership Prohibited (possess and/or acquire a rifle with a barrel length less than sixteen inches), Habitual Property Crime, and Driving Without a License. Robbery in the Second Degree, Theft in the First Degree, and Ownership or Possession of a Firearm Prohibited are all class B felony offenses which carries a penalty of either a ten-year prison term or four years probation and up to eighteen months in jail.

The charges are merely allegations and the Defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was initiated by Officer Jayson Miyashiro of Puna Patrol. The vehicle was located by Officer Danton Zimmerman, South Hilo Patrol. The felony investigation was led by Detective Jeremy Kubojiri, of the Hawaiʻi County Police Department’s Area I Criminal Investigation Section.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Muñoz.

 

Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney