A 37-year-old Waimea man accused of assaulting three police officers Monday evening is free on court-supervised release without monetary bail.
On Thursday, Kona District Judge Joseph Florendo Jr. granted Pieter Christian Colson his freedom without posting bail over the objection of prosecutors, who had requested Colson’s $6,500 bail be maintained. He ordered Colson to return on Aug. 16 for a preliminary hearing.
Colson is charged with two counts of first-degree assault of a police officer, plus second-degree assault of a police officer, resisting arrest, harassment and second-degree terroristic threatening.
According to police, at about 7:50 p.m. Monday, a 58-year-old woman told police Colson verbally threatened her in a residential subdivision off Kohala Mountain Road in Waimea. The woman reportedly told officers Colson drove off in a blue Jeep.
Shortly afterwards, an 18-year-old woman told police she was tailed and harassed by Colson, whom she said was driving a blue Jeep.
North Kohala officers found Colson at Kawaihae Harbor, but he reportedly resisted arrest, assaulted the officers and eluded them on foot, despite an assist to the officers from a group of bystanders.
On Tuesday, police said, South Kohala officers apprehended Colson without incident on Kohala Mountain Road in Waimea.
The complaint lists the officers Colson allegedly assaulted as Sgt. John Kahalioumi and officers Stephen Pangle and Emerson Paranda.
According to police, two of the three officers received medical treatment for their injuries and were released.
First-degree assault of a police officer is a Class C felony which carries a potential five-year term of imprisonment, upon conviction. Second-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree terroristic threatening are misdemeanors, and harassment is a petty misdemeanor.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
