Police say two on-duty officers fired shots this morning in Hilo after the driver of a stolen Jeep reportedly reversed toward an officer, and a man and woman were taken into custody.
No one was injured.
Police identified the driver as 26-year-old Clyde Takeshi Talosaga Loa. His woman passenger is identified as 34-year-old Suiliana Tui of Hilo.
Loa is being held in the Hilo police cellblock on suspicion of unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle.
Tui was taken to Hilo Medical Center for examination unrelated to the incident and police say she will be taken to the Hilo police cellblock on suspicion of unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle when discharged from the hospital.
Police say the older-model green Jeep was stolen in Kona on Wednesday. Kona officers saw it this morning and pursued it, but called off the chase when it left the district.
At about 9:15 a.m., an officer spotted the older-model green Jeep traveling Hilo bound this morning on Daniel K. Inouye Highway and radioed ahead. Hilo patrol officers attempted to stop it as it turned right onto Komohana Street and continued to pursue the Jeep as it turned right onto Ainaola Drive and traveled mauka, police said.
According to police, the Jeep came to an abrupt stop in upper Waiakea Uka and reversed toward an officer. Another officer discharged his weapon.
The woman reportedly fled on foot into a pasture before she was apprehended by another officer.
Loa allegedly continued driving up Ainaola before another officer fired a shot at the Jeep. Loa then abruptly stopped the vehicle on the roadway and fled on foot into a nearby pasture before being pursued by officers and arrested without further incident.
The Jeep continued driving up Ainaola Drive before another officer discharged a weapon towards the fleeing vehicle, which was subsequently stopped on the roadway. The driver fled on foot and ran into a nearby pasture before he was also arrested without incident.
No one was injured.
The two officers who discharged their firearms have been placed on administrative leave while detectives from the Office of Professional Standards — Hawaii Police Department’s internal affairs unit — conduct an administrative investigation into the incident.
Police are requesting any motorists or residents who witnessed the incident or who may have video footage, to call the police nonemergency line at 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
