KAILUA-KONA — A judge has ordered no bail for three individuals charged in connection with a shootout Friday at South Point that left a Hawaii Police sergeant injured and suspected cop killer Justin Waiki dead.
Kona District Court Judge Margaret Masunaga maintained the no-bail status for Jorge Pagan-Torres, 35, and 30-year-old Malia Lajala, both of Hilo, and 29-year-old Krystle Ferreira, of Waimea, during their initial appearances in court Monday morning. A preliminary hearing has been set for Tuesday.
Pagan-Torres, Lajala and Ferreira 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 police.
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.
The charges stem from an incident Friday on South Point Road in Ka’u during which Waiki — who was wanted in the July 17 fatal shooting of Officer Bronson K. Kaliloa, 46 — 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 Kaliloa 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.
Where is the death penalty when you need it?
Maybe NOW we can get the will to build and expand our jail capacity so we are not releasing dangerous criminals into the public….or downgrading their sentences so they walk away on low/no bail.
Instead of raising taxes to building homeless villages we need more jail space!
A large fenced in area with “igloos” would do just fine. Think dog cage type setup with a double perimeter fence. No need for any comforts or big expense. That in itself would be a deterrent.
In the lava fields right next to PTA
Sheriff Joe did that in Arizona and the liberals screeched endlessly.
Guantanamo has open beds since Obama let out most of the terrorists.
Nakamoto must go. He has failed the public. We have no faith is his ability to judge any longer. He has let the doper scum run free for to long. They are ruining our youth.
Waiki and this Pagan Torres have laughed at the island justice for to long. Both have records longer than they are tall.
We don’t have to allow these scum to walk our streets, infect our youth. If Nakamoto will not do his job then replace him with someone competent.
Without a gun in the criminals hand one officer would be alive. Another one not injured. Guns kill officers. Not cars. Not knives. Not hammers. Support your Hawaiian law officers in restricting firearms coming to the islands!
Officers are struck and killed by vehicles all the time in fact two days ago in Kent Washington. An officer was recently killed in a stabbing at Cal Poly Pomona. Notre Dame on June 6 a man was shot and killed by officers when he attacked them with a hammer. I think you should really re consider your statement and perhaps the entire theory behind your argument.
So you found an exception from the rule. Glory to you for that FOX worthy spin. Why don’t we arm the US military then with Tacomas and run down ISIS in the desert?! LMFAO Defend your home with a nail gun and your teens pimple squeezers ( people have indeed died from that, the horror!)
I am in no way attacking your stance on gun control. All I am saying is that if you state something as fact, it should be able to be backed up by fact. Donʻt get upset with me because your argument was found to be wanting and without fact. Simply put my responses were not exceptions, they are common happenings. On September 13, 2011, Officer Eric Fontes was struck and killed by another vehicle while on a routine traffic stop on Farrington Highway. Four months later on January 21, 2012, Officer Garret Davis was killed when his vehicle was struck from behind as he was rendering aid to a stalled vehicle on the H-1 freeway. Because of these tragic deaths and many other traffic related injuries to emergency responders, Governor Neil Abercrombie signed Hawaii’s “Move Over” bill into law. I lā maika’i iä ‘oe, Aloha e mālama pono.