KAILUA-KONA — Three Hawaii Island residents are each facing an accomplice to first-degree attempted murder charge stemming from a shootout Friday during which Justin Waiki — the man wanted in the shooting death of a Puna patrol officer — shot and injured a Special Response Team sergeant.
Jorge Pagan-Torres, 35, and 30-year-old Malia Lajala, both of Hilo, and 29-year-old Krystle Ferreira, of Waimea, were each charged at 1:30 p.m. Sunday with one count each of accomplice to first-degree attempted murder, accomplice to not having a case or place to keep a revolver, and criminal conspiracy, according to the Hawaii Police Department. The three were initially arrested on charges of first-degree hindering prosecution.
If convicted, accomplice to first-degree attempted murder carries a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
In addition, Pagan-Torres was charged with two counts of violating probation and Lajala was charged with two counts third-degree promoting dangerous drugs, police said Sunday evening.
There is no bail set and all three individuals remain in custody at the Kealakehe police station pending their initial court appearances Monday morning at the Kona District Court.
The charges stem from an incident Friday on South Point Road in Ka’u during which Waiki was reportedly located in a Toyota 4Runner at a checkpoint established to search vehicles coming in and out of the area after police received information that Waiki was in the area.
According to police, Waiki was hiding under a blanket in the very back of the vehicle and when the sergeant opened the back lift gate, the suspect “emerged from under the blanket and shot the officer.”
That sergeant, whom police have not identified other than that he is a 12-year veteran of the department, was medevaced to Hilo Medical Center with gunshot wounds to his chest and arm. He was last reported to be in stable condition.
Police say Pagan-Torres was driving the vehicle, which was registered to the parents of Ferreira. Ferreira, Lajala and a third woman, who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and a broken femur and has not yet been identified, were passengers within the vehicle.
The firearm used by Waiki on Friday was identified as a .38 revolver that was reported stolen from a residence in March, according to police.
On Sunday, police said that detectives had executed a search warrant on the SUV and reportedly located “numerous rounds of unspent ammunition,” 0.9 grams of a black tar-like substance suspected to be heroin, 0.1 grams of a crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine, and approximately $620.
The manhunt for Waiki started Tuesday evening at 9:47 p.m. after police say he fatally shot Officer Bronson K. Kaliloa, 46, beside Highway 11 in Mountain View when the officer approached a vehicle during a traffic stop. Waiki, whose last known address was in Las Vegas, was being sought at the time on a no-bail warrant for revocation of his bail conditions.
The first chance to pursue Waiki since Tuesday’s fatal shooting happened Thursday evening when police received reports of a sighting of Waiki in Kailua-Kona. At 4:58 p.m., police responded to Ka Hale Kahaluu on reports of shots fired where two individuals in a truck led police on a chase through South Kona ending at Middle Keei Road where the suspects fled on foot.
After hours of combing the countryside, Harvey Damo Jr., and Shevylyn Klaus, both 25 and of Hilo, were taken into custody. Damo was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound at Kona Community Hospital.
On Saturday, Damo, the alleged driver of the vehicle involved in the officer-involved shooting incident, was charged with two counts first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree reckless endangering, first-degree resisting an order to stop, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, fourth-degree theft and fourth-degree criminal property damage. Bail was set at $54,000.
Klaus, who was also within the vehicle at the time of the incident, was released pending further investigation.
Police have yet to say definitively if Damo and Klaus were known associates of Waiki and if the fugitive was involved somehow in Thursday’s pursuit.
Anybody with information about the case or about anyone who assisted Waiki during the time he was wanted contact Detective Jerome Manuel of the criminal investigation section at 326-4646, ext. 262, or Jerome.Manuel@hawaiicounty.gov.