Police detectives arrested and charged a 40-year-old Kurtistown man for allegedly intentionally striking a pedestrian with his Jeep in a Pahoa shopping center parking lot.
Spencer Kamuela Young Gun Chun is charged with second-degree assault and driving without a license.
According to police, shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, an officer saw two men involved in an altercation.
The victim, a 39-year-old man, reportedly told police he was in a crosswalk to enter the shopping center and stopped because of a white Jeep on the road. According to the police, the victim and the driver, Chun, gestured to each other, and the victim began to cross the crosswalk.
Chun then allegedly turned the Jeep toward the victim, accelerated and struck the man, knocking him to the ground.
Police say video surveillance from the shopping center confirmed the victim’s account of events.
The man was taken by ambulance to the Hilo Benioff Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries and later released.
The Jeep was recovered as evidence, pending execution of a search warrant for a mechanical inspection.
Police say Chun was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Tuesday, but no record of the hearing is on the Judiciary website, which means Chun likely posted his $21,000 bail and will have a later hearing.
Police are still investigating the incident and ask potential witnesses to call the department’s nonemergency line at (808) 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.
