Rap sheets for a handful of those arrested in connection with a South Kona crime spree contain convictions and/or arrests for burglary, kidnapping, theft, assault and drug offenses, including methamphetamine trafficking, among others.
Rap sheets for a handful of those arrested in connection with a South Kona crime spree contain convictions and/or arrests for burglary, kidnapping, theft, assault and drug offenses, including methamphetamine trafficking, among others.
That’s according to a West Hawaii Today analysis of Hawaii Police Department arrest records and state Department of the Attorney General’s Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center criminal conviction records for eight individuals police say have been arrested in connection with a rash of reported burglaries and car crimes in South Kona.
In all, 11 people have been arrested in connection with the crime spree. Several of those arrested are facing offenses for hiding fugitives.
“We’ve dealt with them all before in similar investigations,” said police Area II Criminal Investigations Section Capt. Chad Basque. “We’ve got everybody we’ve identified in this case, now we are looking at the peripherals to see if we can work with prosecutors to tie in with a criminal investigation.”
The lengthiest rap sheet of all belongs to Joseph Narzisi, 25, of Kailua-Kona whose Hawaii arrest and conviction records date to February 2005. Narzisi, who also goes by the name Joey, has been arrested on suspicion of 74 offenses and convicted just six times, according to police and the data center.
Among Narzisi’s arrests are theft (14); burglary (3); car break-in (6); drug offenses (25); firearms offenses (8); kidnapping (1); assault (1); terroristic threatening (1); traffic offenses (6); and probation, furlough and bail violations and contempt of court (9), according to arrest records.
His six convictions include two felonies and four petty misdemeanors, according to the state data center. The two felonies are first-degree burglary and bail jumping, for which he served concurrently one year in jail and five years probation. The remaining four offenses include drunken driving, criminal contempt of court and failure to appear.
Narzisi was arrested during a late August warrant sweep in Kailua-Kona and charged with numerous narcotics and drug offenses. While still incarcerated, Narzisi was charged in mid-September in connection with a kidnapping case that occurred Aug. 21 in Kailua-Kona, according to police. During that incident, a suspect reportedly forced his way into a 26-year-old man’s home, assaulted him and threatened him with a firearm before forcing him into a vehicle where the threats and assault allegedly continued until the victim was able to escape.
Basque said Narzisi is well-known locally, but not the ring leader in the South Kona crime spree. He noted specifically that an Internet search results in many hits for Narzisi. West Hawaii Today archives indicate he was arrested in charged in mid-2005 following a rash of crimes in the Kona area.
Although unable to comment specifically on Narzisi’s or any other person’s arrest and conviction record without having the data before him, Basque said police would like to see nearly as many convictions as arrests. However, police are only involved in about a third of the process, which also includes prosecutors and the courts, he said.
He did add that the department’s task force, which will disband in several days, is working on the current cases with the hopes of successful prosecution on all offenses, he said.
“We need to build cases and make them foolproof so we don’t do another with just six convictions,” he said.
Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Charlene Iboshi was unable to be reached directly on Thursday. However, in a voice message left in the afternoon she said a successful prosecution hinges on good information, whether that is provided by the victim or someone who may have seen something occur.
“If the community can work as a whole it helps,” she said in the message.
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Ryan Jeffries Hamar
Jeffries Hamar, 31, of no permanent address was arrested Sept. 8 and charged with escape after failing to check in with a work furlough release program. Police have identified him as a person of interest in the South Kona crimes.
Arrests: 43, including car break-in (4); car theft (2); drugs offenses (8); theft (3); traffic offenses (11); kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment (3); burglary (1); abuse (2); terroristic threatening (2); property damage (1); escape (1); criminal soliciting (1); and probation, furlough and bail violations and contempt of court (4).
Convictions: 10, including burglary (2); theft (3); car theft (2); contempt of court and probation violation (2); and resisting an officer’s order to stop (1). For the burglary conviction, which dates to 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years confinement; at the time of his arrest he was on the work furlough program.
Curtis Hoku Kekahuna
Kekahuna, 36, of Waimea was arrested Sept. 13 when police went to a Kalaoa property. He was subsequently charged with promoting a dangerous drug, possessing drug paraphernalia and three counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, according to police. In addition, he was charged with kidnapping, assault, terroristic threatening and burglary in connection with a reported incident that occurred Aug. 21 in Kailua-Kona.
Arrests: 26, including drug offenses (10); car theft (2); robbery (1); shoplifting (2); assault (1); and probation violations, discharge of sureties and contempt of court (10).
Convictions: 16, including theft (1), drug offenses (2); shoplifting (2); assault (1); liquor violation involving a minor (1); and probation violations, discharge of sureties and contempt of court (9).
Joel Adam Landsborough
Landsborough, 24, of Kailua-Kona was charged Saturday with contempt of court; theft, which stems from an incident at a department store in August; and two counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in connection with cars that were reported stolen from Hilo in August and from Kona in September.
Arrests: 28, including theft (7); car break-in (3); car theft (1); abuse (1); and probation and parole violations and contempt of court (16).
Convictions: 12, including theft (1); car break-in (1); probation violation (1); and contempt of court (9).
Sean Eric Gregory
Gregory, 22, of Kailua-Kona was arrested Sept. 17 on suspicion of two counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in connection with a vehicle reportedly taken from Waikoloa in July and an all-terrain vehicle that was reportedly taken from the Kalaoa area this month, according to police. He was subsequently charged and released on bail.
Arrests: 10, including assault (4); harassment (1); and contempt of court and probation violation (5).
Convictions: 6, including assault (2); harassment (1); contempt of court (3).
Joshua Watan
Watan, 31, of Kealakekua was arrested in mid-September and since has been charged with criminal trespassing, meth trafficking, promoting a dangerous drug, possessing drug paraphernalia, burglary and theft.
Police were only able to provide a portion of his arrest record, noting that it had been split up over the years. The records provided show the arrests made in September. His court conviction record dates to 2002 when he pleaded guilty to failure to appear and was sentenced in District Court to pay a $50 fine.
Nicole Adams
Adams, 51, of Captain Cook whom police indicated during a community meeting was the girlfriend of Jeffries Hamar, was arrested Sept. 12. She was subsequently charged with hindering prosecution for allegedly hiding from police Jeffries Hamar.
Arrests: 3, terroristic threatening (1); failure to appear (1); hindering prosecution (1).
Convictions: None. She also pleaded guilty to a 2010 threatening offense and received a deferred acceptance of her plea, which contains the stipulation that if all sentencing conditions are met the offense is not included on a person’s record.
Daniel Estocado
Estocado, 24, was arrested after turning himself in on suspicion of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle in connection with a Feb. 24 incident in Kona and on suspicion of burglary for an Aug. 27 incident in Kealakekua. He was released pending further investigation.
His rap sheet is the shortest with just two arrests in 2012 for contempt of court and failure to appear. He has no convictions, according to the data center.