HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
INVESTIGATIVE OPERATIONS BUREAU
ASSISTANT CHIEF WENDELL D. PAIVA
PHONE: 961-2341
APRIL 17, 2002
MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE
Police have identified a suspect shot and wounded by a police officer early Wednesday (April 17, 2002) as a 28-year-old Hilo male of no permanent address.
The wounded suspect was reported in serious but stable condition at the Hilo Medical Center.
A second suspect who was with the wounded man at the time of the shooting has been identified as Justine Aoki, 20, of a Hilo address. Aoki has been charged with attempted theft and is being held in the Hilo police cellblock without bail for revocation of supervised release.
The shooting occurred when officers assigned to the South Hilo Patrol Division responded to a 3:12 a.m. call about a theft in progress at a laundromat on Shipman Street across from the Hilo Armory in downtown Hilo.
On arrival, the officers encountered two adult males in a blue 1987 Honda four-door sedan parked across the street from the laundromat.
An investigation determined that the 28-year-old suspect was sleeping in back of the vehicle when police arrived. When confronted by patrol officers, the suspect forced Aoki from the driver’s side of the car and took control of the vehicle.
Witnesses at the scene indicated that the 28-year-old started the car, rapidly reversed it and then put the vehicle in forward gear and sped toward a patrol officer. The officer, a 20-year veteran, shot once and wounded the suspect.
Detectives from the Hilo Criminal Investigation Section were called to the scene, where they were trying to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to the shooting.
Police have also initiated a first-degree attempted assault case against the 28-year-old driver.
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