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Second man arrested after dog alert in September car break-in 11-06-14

Hawaiʻi Police Department
Criminal Investigations Section, Area II
Lieutenant Gerald Wike
Phone: 326-4646, Ext. 266
Report No. C14025130

 

Media Release

A second man has been arrested in connection with a September break-in of vehicles in Kailua-Kona. The incident initially came to the attention of the victim because of a barking dog.

Police arrested one suspect the the day of the September 21 incident and had been searching for the second suspect, 32-year-old Sione Manu Maasi of Kailua-Kona, who was also wanted on unrelated warrants.

On Monday (November 3) Maasi turned himself in on the warrants. At that time police also arrested him for the car break-ins.

Maasi was charged Monday with violating terms of release on bail, two counts of contempt of court and two counts of discharge of sureties. His bail on those offenses was set at $11,250 and he appeared in court Wednesday morning  (November 5).

After court,  Maasi was returned to the Kona police cellblock while detectives continued the investigation into the September 21 incident. At 2 p.m. Wednesday, they charged him with promoting a dangerous drug, possessing drug paraphernalia and two counts of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. His bail on those offenses was set at $40,000. He remained at the cellblock until his court appearance on those charges Thursday (November 6).

The case began  when a 39-year-old Kailua-Kona man reported that he had heard his dog barking while he was working at his business on Alapa Street in the old industrial area of Kailua-Kona. He had looked out to see two men in the bed of his pickup truck rummaging through a tool box. When he approached them, they fled the area on foot with a case containing a hand drill. The victim later discovered that coins were missing from the truck and from a sports-utility vehicle parked near it.

Later that day, police arrested 23-year-old Joshua Leiataua of Kailua-Kona. A search warrant on a backpack led to the recovery of crystal methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

On September 24, Leiataua was charged with promoting a dangerous drug, possessing drug paraphernalia and two counts of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle.

Investigation by detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section led to Maasi’s identity, and the search for him began.