Prelim set in Puna burglary case

A 28-year-old Papaikou man arrested on burglary and theft charges after neighbors confronted him at a Puna construction site made his initial court appearance Monday.

Hilo District Judge Harry Freitas ordered Chas Akiona to return at 2 p.m. today for a preliminary hearing.

According to police, officers on Friday responded to a report of a burglary on 25th Avenue in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision. Arriving officers learned that neighbors, including an off-duty police officer, confronted the suspect at a home under construction, where more than $2,000 worth of building materials and construction tools had been removed during a two-day period.

Court documents state that among the items Akiona allegedly took from the home are stainless steel roofing nails worth $512.50 and a 16-foot aluminum ladder worth $329.99. Both items were recovered by police.

Akiona was charged with second-degree burglary, second-degree theft and two counts of contempt of court. His bail was set at $20,650.

During Monday’s hearing, Deputy Public Defender Austin Hsu asked the judge to grant Akiona supervised release, noting he has a residence and received a clinical discharge from a clean-and-sober re-entry house in 2015.

Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Shiigi requested Akiona’s bail be maintained, telling Freitas “there’s a lot of stuff that would keep him in jail,” including seven prior convictions for contempt of court and two for failure to appear.

“In addition, he is on four-year felony probation since Jan. 21, 2016, for promoting a dangerous drug in the third degree,” Shiigi said. “He also got one year of suspended jail and 100 hours of community service work. I’ve been informed he was given a urinalysis test this morning by his probation officer … and he tested positive for multiple illegal substances.”

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.