Hawaii Police Department
Criminal Investigations Section
Lieutenant Randall Medeiros
Phone: 961-2252
August 21, 2007
Report No. C06011300
MEDIA RELEASE
Hawaii County police have forwarded to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney an investigation recently completed about a deliberately-set fire at Waiakea High School last year.
The fire occurred in the early morning hours of April 11, 2006, at the school located at 155 W. Kawili Street in Hilo. Police responded around 1:15 a.m. after a nearby resident reported seeing flames. No one was injured in the fire that caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage to the building and its contents.
Hilo Criminal Investigations Section detectives, working with a fire inspector from the Hawaii County Fire Department, determined early in the investigation that the fire had been set intentionally. They determined that the fire originated in the administration building, also called "Building A."
A few weeks after the fire, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in setting it. They received several calls, as did Crime Stoppers, providing names of possible suspects.
The information that broke this case, however, was garnered from an interview a detective conducted on an unrelated case. The individual provided information that ultimately led detectives to identify four Hilo juvenile males suspected as being responsible for setting the fire. One of the males is now 18, while the other three are now 17.
