A 50-year-old Kurtistown man who called the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday before turning himself in to police for an alleged armed confrontation in Hawaiian Acres was charged Wednesday with four felony offenses.
William James Chase was charged with first-degree burglary, being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening.
His bail was set at $50,000, and he made his initial appearance Thursday in Hilo District Court. Judge Barbara Takase ordered Chase to return at 2 p.m. Monday for a preliminary hearing.
According to court documents, 44-year-old Charissa Love told police Chase entered her home on Uau Road without permission at about 7:45 p.m. Aug. 7, brandishing a black Glock handgun.
Chase allegedly placed the barrel on the lips of Manuel Arruda in the presence of Chase’s 17-year-old stepson, whose name is being withheld since he is a minor, and 18-year-old Jazmine Leonard, all of whom told police they saw the firearm in Chase’s possession.
Chase, who has five felony convictions dating back to 1983, according to documents, maintained Tuesday he was unarmed when he went to the Uau Street home, and alleged he went to reclaim property stolen from his Road B home in Hawaiian Acres while he was incarcerated after being picked up on a probation violation.
Police Capt. Robert Wagner of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Thursday police have not recovered a firearm.
“We have enough probable cause to believe he had a firearm that we could charge him with that offense. It’s (the evidence is) pretty strong,” Wagner said.
Documents state Chase told the home’s occupants, “I’m going to shoot you all if she doesn’t tell the truth.” The witnesses reportedly told police the “she” is Chase’s wife, Kimberly Rees, who allegedly was on the phone discussing the couple’s marital issues.
Chase told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday he thinks his wife and the previously mentioned stepson allowed the Uau Road home’s residents to take his belongings while he was in jail between his arrest July 31 and his supervised release from custody Aug. 3.
Chase was the subject of an all-points bulletin issued Saturday morning by police, and a contingent of officers from the Puna Patrol Division and the Special Response Team, the department’s SWAT unit, converged on his home Saturday afternoon, but Chase wasn’t home at the time.
Stanton Oshiro, Chase’s court-appointed attorney, asked the judge to grant his client supervised release, telling the court, “My understanding is he actually turned himself in as soon as he (Chase) found out that his presence was being sought (by police) relative to these offenses.”
Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Rothfus objected to the defense request and asked that Chase’s bail be maintained.
“The defendant does have a pending felony revocation (of probation) ongoing,” Rothfus said. “He was released on supervised release prior to this offense and the (Department of Public Safety’s) Intake Service Center is recommending revocation of that supervised release.”
Takase ordered Chase’s bail be maintained.
The burglary and firearms charges are each Class B felonies punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment, while terroristic threatening is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years incarceration.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
