HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
DETECTIVE JEREMIE EVANGELISTA
HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
PHONE: 961-2377
JANUARY 18, 2003
MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE
Police have arrested and charged a 41-year-old man with attempted murder and other offenses after he allegedly shot and wounded a Pahoa man Friday morning (January 17, 2003) after an altercation at his residence.
The alleged assailant, identified as Mark Thomas Taka, of no permanent address, was charged at 5:30 p.m. Saturday with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree terroristic threatening, three counts of first-degree reckless endangering, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, illegal place to keep firearms and two counts of prohibited ownership of firearms.
The victim, Calvin L. Kobayashi, 44, was taken to the Hilo Medical Center on Friday and later flown to Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu in critical condition.
Responding to an 11:30 a.m. call Friday, police determined that Kobayashi had been repairing the Taka’s boat. When Taka came by to retrieve the boat, the two got into an argument.
The suspect then got a handgun, shot at Kobayashi several times, wounding him in the side. As the wounded Kobayashi turned to run away, the assailant threw a hand grenade, which failed to explode, and then drove off.
About 10 minutes after the shooting, Taka called police, told them where he was and surrendered without incident after they arrived.
A U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Detail from Honolulu later disposed of the grenade. Before the ordnance team disposed of the grenade, police closed Old Government Road as a safety precaution.
# # #