Man allegedly responsible for Saddle Road closure in court

KEALAKEKUA —A Keaau man arrested Monday after a traffic incident at the corner of Daniel K. Inouye Highway, or Saddle Road, and Highway 190 was denied supervised release at his first court appearance Wednesday.

Jason A.K. Mattos, 30, appeared before Judge Margaret Masunaga in district court. He has been charged with promoting a dangerous drug and failure to obey police directions after allegedly stopping at the highways intersection, not making a turn at the T-type junction, causing a traffic backup.

A driver eventually checked on the stationary car and reportedly saw a gun in the lap of Mattos sitting in the driver’s side, according to police.

The incident, which was made public at 12:40 p.m., closed the intersection for more than two hours, forcing West Hawaii drivers to find alternate routes.

Mattos was eventually taken into custody and booked into the South Kohala police station in Waimea.

Alan Richmond, spokesman for Hawaii police, said no gun was found in a search of Mattos’ vehicle.

In court Wednesday, defense attorney Fedrick Macapinlac requested that Mattos be granted supervised release despite an intake review that suggested the Keaau man remain in custody.

“There are prior convictions but he has no history of missing court,” Macapinlac said.

Masunaga didn’t grant supervised release. However, she said if Mattos could make the bail, set at $2,250, he could do the supervised release.

A preliminary hearing is set for today at 2 p.m.