A 23-year-old Pahoa man accused of being the getaway driver for a since-deceased man police said shot and injured an officer on March 14 pleaded not guilty Friday to criminal charges.
Silas Zion was indicted Wednesday by a Hilo grand jury for allegedly being an accomplice to attempted first-degree murder, illegally carrying a handgun and ammunition, and first-degree hindering prosecution.
Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto set Zion’s trial for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 4.
Addressing Zion’s Honolulu-based attorney, Benjamin Lowenthal, Nakamoto noted that Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota attached a no-bail bench warrant with Wednesday’s indictment.
“Yes, that is noted,” Lowenthal replied. “At this time, we’re not making any motions, and I need to discuss that further with Mr. Zion.”
Prior to the indictment and bench warrant, a Hilo District Court judge set Zion’s bail at $3.073 million.
Family members of Zion were present in the courtroom but declined to talk to the Tribune-Herald.
Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said Friday the officer, who was shot in the arm and head, remains hospitalized at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
Moszkowicz said the officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, had additional surgery Friday on his right arm.
The chief said he expects the officer to be discharged by the hospital and return to the Big Island sometime this week.
The officer — a nine-year veteran attached to the East Hawaii Vice Section who works undercover assignments — was in plainclothes when the shooting took place in the parking lot of First Hawaiian Bank’s Waiakea Branch adjacent to Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo.
“However, they did all have tactical gear with ‘police’ labels all over it,’” Moszkowicz said, referring to the injured officer and two officers he was with, one of whom returned fire and struck the suspect, 39-year-old Christopher Lucrisia of Puna, who was wanted on multiple warrants.
Police say Zion, who reportedly was driving a white 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, drove away from the shooting scene at a high rate of speed.
Police initiated a manhunt, with law enforcement officers from other counties, the state and the federal government joining Big Island police. They arrested Zion without incident March 14 on Ihope Road in Mountain View.
On Sunday, March 16, authorities tracked Lucrisia down to an Ihope Road property across the street from where Zion was taken into custody two days earlier. Lucrisia engaged in a gun battle with officers, police said. A drone later spotted Lucrisia motionless, and police said he died at the scene.
An autopsy was ordered on Lucrisia’s body. The results, if received by police, haven’t been made public, so it remains unclear if Lucrisia was killed by gunfire in the second battle, if he’d turned a weapon on himself, or if he bled out from wounds sustained in the initial shooting on March 14.
Zion remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com
