Police have charged a 36-year-old Pahoa man with attempted second-degree murder for an alleged vehicular assault on a 28-year-old woman Sunday afternoon in Kalapana.
Thomas Ryan Kilborn has also been charged with two counts each of first-degree robbery, first-degree theft, property damage and unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle, plus leaving the scene of an accident involving bodily damage and driving without a license.
Kilborn is being held in lieu of $704,000 bail pending his initial court appearance scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday in Hilo District Court.
According to police, at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to the intersection area of Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Road Ole Ole Street after receiving a report of a disturbance.
Police say Kilborn stole a four-door sedan from a driveway, then returned several minutes later and struck the woman with the stolen car. After striking the victim, Kilborn crashed the car into a coconut tree, police said.
When a passerby stopped to render aid to the injured woman, Kilborn then stole the good Samaritan’s pickup truck, according to police. The owner of the truck then got into the bed of the truck and remained there as Kilborn sped off. The truck’s owner reportedly rode the truck bed for several miles, screaming for help, as Kilborn sped through the neighborhood and along Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Road.
The truck’s owner jumped out near the Kalapana Transfer Station, police said, shortly before Kilborn reportedly intentionally struck another moving vehicle from behind, forcing the vehicle off the roadway.
The woman operator of the vehicle sustained minor injuries.
Police say Kilborn then drove the stolen truck off the roadway about 30-40 yards into a lava field, disabling the truck.
He was apprehended by officers after a brief foot pursuit.
Kilborn was then arrested after a short foot pursuit with officers.
The woman hit by the car was taken by ambulance to Hilo Medical Center Emergency Room with life-threatening injuries. She was later flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where she remains in critical condition, police said.
Police are seeking potential witnesses, and request anyone with information to call the police nonemergency number at 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.