KEALAKEKUA — A Hilo man was sentenced to an indeterminate period of five years in prison after pleading no contest to charges stemming from a 2018 police chase that lasted several hours.
On Friday morning, Harvey Damo Jr., 26, appeared in 3rd Circuit Court where he was sentenced for the high-speed pursuit in July, as well as resentencing for three previous criminal cases where he had violated probation.
Per the agreement, Damo pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle. Following Rule 11 of the court, the state, defense and 3rd Circuit Court Judge Robert D.S. Kim all agreed to follow the terms including punishment, which requires Damo to serve a minimum of one year and eight months.
In reading the facts of the case, Deputy Prosecutor Kate Perazich said the defendant risked many lives including his own.
“He paralyzed the community and directly threatened the lives of two officers,” she said.
On July 19, Damo fled from police from a housing complex in the Kahaluu area and eluded capture for hours. He was found about 11 p.m. that night in South Kona on foot with two gunshot wounds to the arm.
Twenty-five at the time of the incident, Damo was found to have been operating a truck stolen from the cable company Spectrum’s baseyard.
In 2015, 2017 and January 2018, Damo pleaded guilty to various class C felonies and misdemeanors to which he received probation. On Friday, Kim revoked bail for those previous criminal cases and Damo was resentenced to an indeterminate period of five years. All cases will be served concurrently.
“To this day, there seems to be no appreciation of seriousness of what he did that night,” Perazich said.
Damo’s counsel for the terroristic threatening case, Herman Heimgartner, told the court he had met with his client last week in jail.
“He has a substance abuse problem,” Heimgartner said. “I encouraged him to complete a program while he was in custody. He’s still young and needs to be patient and use his time wisely.”
Damo declined to make a statement to the court.
“What I see in these cases is a life out of control,” Kim said.
The judge said the only reason he agreed to Rule 11 was because of his age and because he took responsibility for his actions by not going to trial.
“I do concur with the state in the last case,” Kim said referring to the chase in July. “It shows a blatant disregard and self-centeredness.”
However, the judge reiterated that once he gets out of prison and if he violates parole or commits another crime, Damo could spend the rest of his life incarcerated.
“If you come out and come back to me I’ll remember this case,” Kim said.
Hawaii Police initially began investigating Damo after hearing reports that Justin Waiki, a suspected cop killer, was seen in his truck earlier in the day on July 19.
An islandwide manhunt had been underway since July 17 after Waiki reportedly shot and killed Officer Bronson Kaliloa along Highway 11 in Mountain View. Hawaii Police reached out to the public asking for tips in hopes of apprehending the 33-year-old.
According to authorities at the time, they received information that Waiki was seen inside Damo’s truck in the Walmart parking lot off Henry Street in Kailua-Kona. Officers eventually tracked the truck to Ka Hale Kailua Housing off of Makolea Street near Keauhou.
According to testimony during Damo’s preliminary hearing on July 24 in District Court, an officer shot at the 26-year-old as he drove out of the housing complex around 5 p.m. to escape arrest.
A vehicle pursuit ensued, which led police to the Napoopoo and Painted Church Road areas. According to testimony, an officer shot at the truck Damo was driving at least 10 times while on Napoopoo Road when the Hilo man refused to stop at a police roadblock.
A 26-year-old Hilo woman was also in the truck at the time of incident. She was released pending further investigation. It was never confirmed the pursuit involving Damo was connected to Waiki, who was eventually involved in a shootout with police in South Point on July 20. Waiki died at the scene.