Hawai’i Police Department
Puna District
Captain Samuel Jeslma
Phone: 966-5835
July 15, 2010
Report No. C10017394
Media Release (update)
A hunting accident in Puna last month has landed the victim in federal detention and motivated farm owners to rally against illegal hunting.
On June 19, just before 7 a.m., police and fire personnel responded to a report of an accidental shooting on farm land owned by ML Macadamia Orchards, located behind the Mauna Loa Mac Nut factory in Kea’au.
Officers learned that the victim, 32-year-old Jarret Kaneshiro of Mountain View, had been illegally hunting pigs on private land with four other hunters when he was accidentally shot by one of the other hunters. He was taken to Hilo Medical Center and subsequently flown to Oahu in critical condition.
Kaneshiro was on federal probation at the time and a federal warrant had recently been issued for his arrest. Following his medical treatment at The Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, Kaneshiro was arrested on the federal warrant and transferred to the Federal Detention Center on Oahu. Additional federal cases were initiated against him for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He remains incarcerated on Oahu with his probation revoked.
Following the shooting and while it was being investigated, officers from the Hawaii Police Department executed a search warrant on the vehicle Kaneshiro had been operating and recovered 11.8 grams of marijuana buds and rounds of ammunition.
Additional criminal trespass cases have been initiated against the hunters who were present and illegally hunting on the property of ML Macadamia Orchards when the shooting occurred.
This incident brought the issue of illegal hunting on private land to the forefront. Farmers and landowners in the area have experienced numerous incidents of illegal hunting, criminal trespassing and thefts of farm products and equipment and have seen these activities increase over the past few years. After this shooting incident, landowners came together to form a committee to work with police on addressing and mitigating the problem. The committee consists of representatives from W.H. Shipman, The Hershey Company (which owns the Mauna Loa Mac Nut processing facility), ML Macadamia Orchards, Ohana Banana Farms and Plant It Hawaii, as well as other farm owners and lessees.
This media release is part of efforts to educate and inform the public that future trespassing, illegal hunting, and theft cases will be reported to police and that landowners will pursue prosecution. Police have agreed to aggressively enforce these laws and arrest offenders.
The public is further informed that all lands makai of Highways 130 and 11 from Hawaiian Paradise Park in Puna to Kings Landing in the Keaukaha area of South Hilo are privately owned up to the high-water mark. Because there is no public land in this area, hunting is not permitted.
The links below provide information about various hunting and gun laws. Violators are subject to citations or arrest and prosecution.
- HRS 183d-21: Hunting License Required
- HRS 183d-21: Hunting License Required
- HRS 183D-26: Hunting on Private Lands Prohibited
- HRS 183D-27: Night Hunting on Private Lands prohibited
- HRS 134-2: Permits to acquire
- HRS 134-3: Registration Mandatory
- HRS 134-4: Ownership or Possession Prohibited
- HRS 134-10.5: Storage of Firearms; Responsibility with respect to minors
- HRS 134-23: Place to keep loaded firearms
- HRS 134-24: Place to keep unloaded firearms
- HRS 134-25: Place to keep pistol or revolver
- HRS 707-713: Reckless endangering in the first degree
- HRS 707-714: Reckless endangering in the second degree
- HRS 708-820: Criminal property damage in the first degree
- HRS 708-821: Criminal property damage in the second degree
- HRS 708-822: Criminal property damage in the third degree
- HRS 708-823: Criminal property damage in the fourth degree
- HRS 708-813: Criminal trespass in the first degree
- HRS 708-814: Criminal trespass in the second degree
- HRS 708-835.5: Theft of livestock
- HRS 183d-28: Hunter education program