Hawaii Island Police have charged a 34-year-old Puna man with an array of offenses in connection with driving a stolen Nissan pickup truck during the early morning hours of Sunday.
The suspect is identified as a Christopher Lucrisia of a Mountain View address.
On Sunday morning, just after midnight, a patrol officer observed Lucrisia, who was sought on an outstanding warrant, drive up near the fuel pumps at a Kurtistown service station and enter the convenience store. This officer had previously received a tip that Lucrisia was operating a stolen pickup truck that had been repainted a different color.
Upon the officer approaching the truck, he noted that the vehicle was painted silver. However, there were areas within the interior of the cab and the fender wells that displayed the original color of red.
The patrolman conducted a check on the license plate and visible VIN numbers attached, and these came back to a 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup, which was silver in color and registered to a female party whom the officer had knowledge was Lucrisia’s mother.
The driver of this vehicle was subsequently arrested on an outstanding $300 warrant, however, the officer, still suspicious of the vehicle being operated, conducted a stolen vehicle check and discovered that a red 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup had been reported stolen on Nov. 1 from a parking lot on Kalanianaole Street in Hilo. Included in the description of the stolen vehicle was a sticker within the vehicle, which was a match with what the officer observed inside the truck at the service station. The Nissan was subsequently recovered and towed as evidence.
Patrol officers later served a search warrant on the 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup truck and were able to locate a VIN number elsewhere on the vehicle, which confirmed the truck as the stolen one removed on Nov. 1 from a Hilo parking lot.
Upon conferring with prosecutors, Lucrisia was charged with the offenses of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, habitual property crimes, possession of confidential information, and driving without a license. His bail was initially set at $31,000, in addition to the $300 outstanding warrant.
Anyone who may have further information about this incident is asked to call Officer Chance Lunsford at 965-2716 or call the police department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.
24 arrested for DUI
During the week of Nov. 11-17, Hawaii Island police arrested 24 motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Six of the drivers were involved in a traffic accident. Three of the drivers were under the age of 21.
So far this year, there have been 963 DUI arrests compared with 961 during the same period last year, an increase of 0.21 percent.
There have been 852 major accidents so far this year compared with 1,029 during the same period last year, a decrease of 17.2 percent.
To date, there were 20 fatal crashes, resulting in 20 fatalities compared with 25 fatal crashes, resulting in 27 fatalities (two of which had multiple deaths) for the same time last year. This represents a decrease of 20 percent for fatal crashes, and 26 percent for fatalities.
DUI roadblocks and patrols will continue islandwide.
