In an incident of apparent road rage, a 40-year-old Hilo man allegedly entered an elderly couple’s pickup truck, assaulted them and stole their truck keys, according to court documents filed by police.
Alika Kamehaokalani Po Irizarry was charged with second-degree robbery, unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle, plus first- and second-degree assault as a result of the alleged Tuesday incident near the corner of Kanoelehua Avenue and East Kawailani Street.
Documents state a 63-year-old man said he was driving his white Mazda pickup truck— which has a right-side steering wheel — south on Kanoelehua after leaving the Puainako Town Center when he noticed a white four-door sedan swerving behind him.
When the pickup truck driver stopped near the East Kawailani Street intersection, the driver of the sedan — identified by police as Irizarry — got out of his car, walked to the right-side driver seat door of the truck and punched the elderly man in the face through the open window eight or nine times with a closed right fist, according to the documents.
Irizarry then allegedly opened the right-side driver’s seat door, pulled the keys out of the ignition, then ran back to his car with the key chain and drove off, documents state. The victim’s wife, a 62-year-old woman who was sitting in the left-side front passenger seat, allegedly tried to separate Irizarry from her husband and was herself punched on her right hand.
The couple were treated for their injuries at Hilo Medical Center. The man reportedly suffered multiple facial bruises, muscle spasms and a concussion, while the woman reportedly sustained a sprained and bruised hand.
A witness reportedly took down the sedan’s license plate number, which turned out to be a white 2019 Honda Accord registered to Irizarry.
When police contacted Irizarry at his home, they recovered the couple’s truck keys from his car, documents state.
Irizarry allegedly told police he had dropped off a load of laundry at Kandi’s Laundromat and went to the rubbish dump. Irizarry reportedly told officers that on his return to Kandi’s, the white Mazda truck made a wide turn onto Kanoelehua, forcing him into another lane, and the pickup’s driver then gave him the middle finger and yelled “f— you.”
According to police, Irizarry admitted to hitting the driver two or three times while the victim yelled in a Filipino dialect. Irizarry also reportedly told officers the driver threw his own keys out of the truck window and stepped on his clutch, causing the truck to roll in front of Irizarry’s car.
Irizarry told police he was angry, documents state, because he had a sick 7-year-old in the car and it was a bad day.
At Irizarry’s initial court appearance Thursday, Deputy Public Defender Arthur Indiola requested Irizarry be freed on supervised release — a form of cashless bail — which drew an objection from Deputy Prosecutor Rich Kuhlmann.
Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach maintained Irizarry’s bail at $70,000 and ordered him to return Monday for a preliminary hearing.
The most serious offenses, second-degree robbery and first-degree assault, are both Class B felonies that carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
Irizarry, who has no prior felony convictions, remained in custody Friday at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.