Kona man faces theft, drug charges

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A Kona man has been charged with 16 offenses stemming from the break-in of a car on Oct. 28, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

A Kona man has been charged with 16 offenses stemming from the break-in of a car on Oct. 28, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

A purse, a skateboard and various electronics items were removed from the car while it was parked at Ooma Beach Park in Kailua-Kona, police said.

A police investigation led to the identity of the suspect as 26-year-old George A. Cruz III of Kailua-Kona.

Community Policing officers, working in coordination with Area II Criminal Investigations Section detectives, arrested Cruz near his home on Wednesday. He was taken to the Kona police cellblock while detectives continued the investigation.

A search warrant on his home and pickup truck led to the recovery of stolen items from the car, three illegal butterfly knives, 470.4 grams of dried processed marijuana, three different Schedule 2 pills and paraphernalia associated with the use of marijuana and hashish, according to police.

On Thursday, Cruz was charged with unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, promoting a harmful drug, two counts of theft, three counts of promoting a dangerous drug, three counts of promoting a detrimental drug, three counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and three counts of possessing an illegal butterfly knife.

His bail was set at $22,500. Cruz made his initial court appearance Friday, and his preliminary hearing was set for Monday.