A Kona man has been charged with a dozen offenses after a pickup truck was stolen from an auto dealer.
A Kona man has been charged with a dozen offenses after a pickup truck was stolen from an auto dealer.
On Nov. 8, a 2004 Toyota pickup truck was stolen from a car dealership on Kanoelehua Avenue in Hilo. In addition, a lock to a gate was damaged, the establishment was entered and vehicle parts were removed.
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 14, personal belongings were removed from a vehicle parked at Hilo Medical Center. Witnesses identified the suspect’s vehicle, which matched the description of the truck taken from the auto dealership.
Later that morning, a patrol officer observed the truck on Komohana Street and attempted to make a traffic stop. The vehicle fled. It was located 10 minutes later in a residential area of Kaumana.
When an officer approached the pickup, it almost hit a police car and fled from the area.
The truck was later located on a dirt road off Saddle Road near the 10-mile marker. The driver, who allegedly resisted arrest, was determined to be wanted for two cases of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in Kona. Jason Schloffel, 23, of Kailua-Kona was arrested and taken to the Hilo police cellblock while detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigations Section continued the investigation.
At 1:30 p.m. Friday, Schloffel was charged with three counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, two counts of second-degree theft and one count each of first-degree reckless endangering, second-degree burglary, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, criminal property damage, resisting an order to stop, resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license. His bail was set at $83,000.
He is being held at the Hilo police cellblock pending his initial court hearing scheduled for Monday.