HILO — A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 49-year-old Mountain View man accused of shooting a 36-year-old Pahoa man in the head during a gun battle July 30 at Isaac Hale Beach Park in Pohoiki. ADVERTISING HILO — A
HILO — A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 49-year-old Mountain View man accused of shooting a 36-year-old Pahoa man in the head during a gun battle July 30 at Isaac Hale Beach Park in Pohoiki.
Rodney E. Wilbur Sr. is charged with attempted second-degree murder for allegedly shooting Gerard Kawelo. He’s also charged with carrying a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, prohibited ownership or possession of a firearm and illegally carrying a handgun.
Wilbur is free on $275,000. He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 7 in Hilo District Court, but the indictment moves the case to Hilo Circuit Court for arraignment and plea.
A bench warrant has been issued for his re-arrest.
Police Lt. Miles Chong said Kawelo is still hospitalized in critical condition at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
The other shooting suspect in the case, 36-year-old Tyson Lewi of Pahoa, pleaded not guilty Aug. 15 to attempted first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, plus two counts each of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree property damage.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ordered Lewi to appear for trial at 9 a.m. Dec. 4.
Lewi is accused of shooting two Mountain View men, 27-year-old Rodney Wilbur Jr. and 25-year-old Austin Aiwohi, during the armed confrontation at the lower Puna park.
Aiwohi and Wilbur Jr. were taken to Hilo Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. Both have since been released.
Lewi remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $550,000 bail.
The grand jury also indicted suspects in other, unrelated cases awaiting preliminary hearings, including a 38-year-old Keaau man accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl and a 21-year-old Hilo man accused of stealing a Hele-On bus and causing a minor hit-and-run traffic collision.
A five-count indictment charges Christopher R. Laboy with three counts of first-degree sexual assault and single counts of third-degree sexual assault and marijuana possession.
Laboy is accused of providing marijuana to the minor on Aug. 8 in Puna before performing sex acts on her.
He’s free on $51,000 bail.
And a five-count indictment charges Kawelo Nakamura with first-degree theft, driving a stolen vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal property damage, and driving the bus without a commercial driver’s license.
Nakamura allegedly stole the bus Aug. 5 from the Mass Transit baseyard on East Lanikaula Street in Hilo, sideswiped a car on Railroad Avenue near Home Depot, and was later pulled over by police without incident on Highway 130 near Pahoa.
He’s free on supervised release.
Laboy and Nakamura will be re-arrested on bench warrants and they’ll be arraigned in Hilo Circuit Court.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
