Hawai‘i Police Department
Criminal Investigation Division – Area I
Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins
Phone: (808) 961-2251
Report No.: 22-104521
Media Release
Hawai‘i Island police have arrested and charged 22-year-old Shaycen Roily Sabino of Hilo following an auto-theft that left a family visiting from Japan without their rental vehicle.
The charges against Sabino stem from an incident on Thursday evening, November 24, 2022, when South Hilo Patrol officers responded to a hotel on Banyan Drive in Hilo, after it was reported that as a family was checking in, their rental vehicle was stolen. Responding officers determined the victims pulled up fronting the hotel and began unloading their luggage, when they were approached by a male who told them he would park their vehicle. The family believed the man was a hotel employee; however, it was later determined the hotel does not have a valet service and their vehicle had been stolen.
During the course of the investigation, officers identified Sabino as a suspect and he was later observed operating the vehicle. He was located in the Banyan Drive area on Saturday morning, November 26, 2022, and arrested after a short foot pursuit with officers.
On Saturday evening, after conferring with Hawai‘i County Prosecutors, Area I Criminal Investigation Section detectives charged Sabino with unauthorized possession of a propelled vehicle (UCPV), first-degree theft, and habitual property crime. His bail was set at $45,000.
Sabino remained in police custody pending his initial court appearance on Monday afternoon, November 28, 2022.