A 37-year-old Hilo man now living in Lynnwood, Wash., is in custody without bail after his arrest midday Thursday upon arriving on an inbound flight at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport.
Hiram Dale Kelii Kuilauwoho Kawelu is accused of multiple serious offenses for what police described in a statement as 鈥渢wo separate and violent and heinous incidents in Hilo.鈥�
The incidents were a hit-and-run traffic fatality that occurred during an attempted theft of a commercial flatbed delivery truck on Aug. 24, 2022, on the Puainako Street Extension, and a home invasion on Jan. 29 in Keaukaha.
Kawelu is charged with manslaughter, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, first- and fourth-degree theft, leaving the scene of an accident, second-degree assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and habitual property crime.
The most serious offenses, manslaughter and first-degree robbery are Class A felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.
According to court documents filed by police, Kawelu has 13 prior criminal convictions, and police say he was linked to both incidents by DNA evidence.
Kawelu made his initial court appearance Friday for the charges stemming from the armed home invasion. Hilo District Judge Jennifer Ng maintained his bail at $251,000 and ordered him to appear for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
According to Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the 91直播 Police Department鈥檚 Criminal Investigation Division, Kawelu is being held without bail until his initial court appearance Tuesday for the attempted theft of the truck and hit-and-run, in which the truck driver was killed.
Amon-Wilkins said police had information that Kawelu was to arrive on an incoming flight to Kona. Officers, armed with an arrest warrant in the home invasion case, took him into custody.
In the 2022 home invasion case, a 71-year-old man and 76-year-old woman reported that two masked men entered their Keaukaha home and demanded access to their safe. One of the men was reported to be armed with a firearm and the other with a ratcheting breaker bar.
The suspects were confronted by the couple鈥檚 caretaker, a 37-year-old man. The caretaker reportedly attempted to disarm the firearm-wielding suspect and was struck several times on the head, face and back with the butt of the firearm, described in the documents as a .410 shotgun.
Despite the attack, the suspects were forced outside by the caretaker, police said, and the suspects then left with some jewelry and foreign currency.
The caretaker was taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The older victims were not physically injured, police said.
In the attempted truck theft and hit-and-run case, officers responded to the Puainako Street extension near the 3-mile marker in the early morning after receiving a report of a man who had been struck by a vehicle.
Responding officers later determined that driver of the truck, 62-year-old Allen Y.L. Kealoha of Pahoa, had stopped his commercial flatbed delivery truck at that location to secure his cargo.
Witnesses saw another vehicle with two men in the area at the same time, and according to police, Kealoha was struck by his own truck when one of the men attempted to steal it.
Kealoha was taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. Autopsy results concluded that Kealoha died from blunt force trauma to the torso, consistent with being struck by a vehicle.
鈥淭hese are two extremely violent crimes that occurred two-and-a-half years apart. One victim was 62, the others were in their 70s. We鈥檙e glad to finally have gotten an arrest in these two cases and let the process play out,鈥� Amon-Wilkins said.
Police ask that anyone who may have additional information relative to these investigations, to include the identity of other suspect in each case, to contact Detective David Poohina at (808) 961-2385 or David.Poohina@hawaiipolice.gov.
Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers number at (808) 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.