KAILUA-KONA — A police officer shot by fugitive Justin Waiki on South Point Road in Ka‘u on July 20, 2018, took the stand Tuesday at the trial for the cop killer’s alleged accomplices.
Krystle Ferreira, Malia Lajala and Jorge Pagan-Torres are each charged with two counts of first-degree hindering prosecution and first-degree attempted murder.
The three, along with a fourth person, Jamie Jason, were in a vehicle with Waiki when police tracked the man down three days after he shot and killed Officer Bronson Kaliloa on the side of Highway 11 in Puna. Waiki was killed in an exchange of bullets on South Point Road during which Sgt. Brian Tina suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds.
On Tuesday, Tina took the stand and recounted the fateful afternoon as the team leader for the Special Response Team sent to the area after cellphone pings gave police reason to believe Waiki was in the South Point area.
He said the SRT used its BearCat armored vehicle to create a road block so each passing vehicle could be screened for the wanted fugitive. Tina said they checked between 50-100 vehicles before a silver 4-Runner approached very slowly then stopped short of the checkpoint.
Tina testified he motioned the vehicle forward and approached the driver. He said the driver, whom he described as a “local” male, complied when asked to unlock the vehicle. He also observed one female passenger in the front seat and one female in the back seat. He made his way to the back of the vehicle and opened the latch on the tailgate, at which point items fell out.
“As I’m pushing stuff back in I could feel something. I pushed and squeezed again and realized it was soft tissue under the blanket,” said Tina. “At the same time there was a loud bang. I saw smoke and had instant pain in my chest. After that, in my head I knew there was going to be return fire so I stepped back and heard multiple shots.”
That is when Tina noticed his hand, arm and chest bleeding and realized he had been shot.
“In my head I was telling myself I needed to get back into the fight to eliminate the threat,” he said but then noticed Waiki out of the vehicle, on the ground with blood running down the roadway from under the blanket he was wrapped in.
He retreated to the back of the BearCat and took off his tactical vest to assess his wounds. SRT Officer Kevin Brodie applied pressure to his chest wound and secured a tourniquet on his arm to stop the bleeding. He was then taken by ambulance to a waiting medivac that flew him to Hilo Medical Center where he underwent surgery for his gunshot wounds.
Brodie next took the stand and recounted the events on South Point Road.
He said that while Tina was talking to the driver, he looked in the rear driver side door where he observed a female in the back seat who “looked nervous.” He then proceeded to approach the back window.
“I saw a pink blanket, completely flat, a 12-pack of beer and some other stuff, normal stuff you would take to the beach,” he said.
As Tina opened the back, he stated, a jacket fell out. When he placed the jacket on top of the blanket, Brodie noticed a crease on the blanket and immediate gunfire.
“I thought I got shot,” he said. “Everything was happening in slow motion. I could feel the percussion, smell the gunpowder. Gunfire came from under the blanket. I heard two or three shots until I could return fire.”
He said that after returning fire, he paused and shouted “put your hands up!”
“Nobody put their hands up so I kept firing,” he said.
After that he stated a female emerged with her hands up and a body wrapped in the pink blanket rolled out of the back of the vehicle onto the ground.
“I could tell the suspect was dead by the blood and brain matter coming from under the blanket,” Brodie told the court.
After his testimony, the officer was visibly overwhelmed and Circuit Court Judge Robert D.S. Kim called a recess for the day.
Prosecutors say the defendants were among a network of loyal friends of Waiki who intentionally helped the man on the lam. Attorneys for the two women and man on trial for their alleged roles assisting the 33-year-old fugitive say otherwise.
Attorneys for Ferreira and Pagan-Torres argue their clients were not previously connected to Waiki and were scared for their lives while counsel for Lajala stated she was working to get the wanted man to turn himself in to police.
Jason is being tried separately as her case is tied-up in appeal over statements made while she was hospitalized. She faces two counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, first-degree attempted murder and place to keep pistol or revolver, and two firearms offenses, ownership or possession prohibited fugitive.
Three others were also charged in connection with the case; Kiel Brende and Veincent have since pleaded out and been sentenced while the third, Taumi Carr, awaits trial.
Trial continues today, with the prosecution expected to rest their case.