A 24-year-old Ka‘u man facing car theft and other offenses was granted supervised release Friday.
Lane Turner, of Ocean View, made his initial appearance Friday in Kona District Court during which Deputy Public Defender James Greenberg making a special appearance motioned for supervised release. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Murray requested bail be maintained at $11,500.
Judge Robert Crudele subsequently granted Turner supervised release, and ordered him to return to court for a preliminary hearing on July 29. During the preliminary hearing, the state will work to show it has probable cause to support the charges.
Turner is charged with first-degree unauthorized control of propelled vehicle, three counts first-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, three counts theft — unauthorized control of property, and felony possession of confidential personal information.
The 24-year-old was taken into custody Monday after Kona patrol officers conducting patrols on Kaleiopapa Street in the area of the Keauhou Small Boat Harbor observed a white-colored Toyota Tacoma with an oversized red camper parked in the area, according to the Hawaii Police Department. A check of the vehicle’s license plates revealed it had been reported stolen from the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision between July 7 and 8.
Officers observed a man, later identified as Turner, seated in the driver’s seat. He was placed under arrest for two criminal contempt of court warrants and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and transported to the Kealakehe police station while detectives with the Area II Criminal Investigation Section continued their investigation.
After executing a search warrant on the stolen vehicle, detectives reportedly recovered items taken during three separate unauthorized entry into motor vehicle incidents, all of which had occurred in the Kona District, which comprises the physical districts of North and South Kona.
Turner appeared in court on the first criminal contempt warrant Tuesday, entering a plea of not guilty. Though the defense requested supervised release, and the state did not object, Judge Joseph Florendo maintained bail at $500.
He also appeared Tuesday on the second contempt warrant, which was issued when Turner did not appear in court in June in connection with an April unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle case. In that case, Florendo ordered him to return July 26 to enter a plea to the charge.
He remained in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center as of Friday.