A Hilo grand jury last week indicted two Puna men on numerous felony charges in connection with unrelated alleged violent incidents last month. ADVERTISING A Hilo grand jury last week indicted two Puna men on numerous felony charges in connection
A Hilo grand jury last week indicted two Puna men on numerous felony charges in connection with unrelated alleged violent incidents last month.
A six-count indictment dated Aug. 26 charges Jomal Gin Ford, a 37-year-old Mountain View man, with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, plus driving a stolen vehicle and refusing an order to stop.
And a separate four-count indictment the same date charges William James Chase, a 50-year-old Kurtistown man, with first-degree burglary, being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening.
One of the documents alleges Ford attempted to kill Hawaii Police Department Officer Paul Wright and state sheriff’s deputies Dennis Branco and Gerard Moses on Aug. 20 while they were performing their official duties as law enforcement officers.
Police say officers and deputies were attempting to serve a bench warrant on Ford for probation revocation at a Mauna Lani Tract Road home when Ford allegedly sped toward officers in a pickup truck, despite being ordered to stop. Wright allegedly fired three times and Branco twice toward the pickup, with at least one of the rounds hitting Ford.
Moses was reportedly grazed by a headlight of the truck before the vehicle came to rest in some bushes on the property and Ford was apprehended.
The indictment also alleges the truck was owned by Kenneth Yates and taken without Yates’ permission.
Both Moses and Ford were treated and released for their injuries at Hilo Medical Center.
A bench warrant orders Ford, who is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Facility, held without bail.
Attempted first-degree murder, upon conviction, carries a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The attempted first-degree murder charges are because the three alleged victims are law enforcement officers and the fourth count is because there are multiple alleged victims.
The second indictment alleges that on Aug. 7, Chase entered an Uau Road home in Hawaiian Acres with “intent therein to commit terroristic threatening” and “recklessly disregarded a risk that the building was a dwelling of another,” committing burglary.
The document alleges Chase threatened Manuel Arruda and a minor, R.S., with “a firearm and/or simulated firearm,” and that Chase, a felon, could not legally possess a firearm.
Chase had been the subject of an all-points bulletin by police after the alleged incident, and turned himself in to authorities on Aug. 11. Before doing so, he called the Hawaii Tribune-Herald the same day to say he went to the home, but did so in an attempt to recover what he claimed were possessions his wife, Kimberly Rees-Chase and her 17-year-old son allowed the occupants of the Uau Road home to steal while he was jailed on a warrant for probation revocation.
Chase claimed the home’s residents lied about him having a handgun, which a witness, Jazmine Leonard, reportedly told police was a black Glock. Police said no handgun was recovered, but said they had probable cause to charge him with the firearms offense.
First-degree burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the most serious charges, both carry a possible 10-year sentence upon conviction.
A bench warrant set Chase’s bail at $50,000 and ordered him not to contact Arruda, Leonard, R.S., or Charissa Love, another witness.
Chase is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
