A 24-year-old Volcano woman accused of two attempted armed carjackings Friday evening in Hilo is facing 17 criminal charges, 16 of them felonies.
Tearon Pacheco-Fernandez is accused of three counts of first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, prohibited possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm on a public roadway, use of a firearm in commission of a separate felony, first-degree terroristic threatening, two counts each of first-degree reckless endangering and first-degree unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle, two counts of first-degree burglary, and first-, second- and fourth-degree theft.
Several of those charges carry longer potential prison sentences than usual because the incidents took place during the state of emergency declared by Gov. David Ige and Mayor Harry Kim due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
According to court documents filed by police, Pacheco-Fernandez opened the passenger side door of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck in the Target store parking lot and pepper-sprayed the interior in what the truck’s owner, a 37-year-old man, told police he believed was an unsuccessful attempt to steal his truck.
A few minutes later, documents state, a 77-year-old man told police he was accosted in the parking lot of the nearby Burger King by a shotgun-wielding masked individual who ordered him to surrender the keys of his pickup truck.
When the truck’s owner refused, the suspect allegedly fired a shot, and the victim started to run but fell. The man told police he saw the suspect enter the driver side of his truck, steal an orange insulated bag, and take off in a Nissan pickup truck.
The victim was able to get the license plate number of the pickup as it was driven away, and police tracked it to a Chong Street residence.
There, police arrested Pacheco-Fernandez and brothers Shannon Estocado, 36, and Shalton Estocado, 25, both of whom were later released from custody pending further investigation. They also found the bag reportedly stolen from the truck and a Mossberg pistol-grip shotgun that had a spent round and a live round of ammunition within.
Police say the shotgun had been reported stolen in a 2018 burglary.
Documents state Pacheco-Fernandez confessed to both incidents, as well as a burglary reported Friday morning on Auwae Road in Panaewa in which jewelry, designer purses and a clear plastic cosmetics case were reportedly taken.
The cosmetics case was reportedly recovered in the bed of a Toyota pickup truck at the Chong Street home.
At Pacheco-Fernandez’s initial court appearance Monday, Hilo District Judge Harry Freitas maintained her bail at $376,000 and ordered her to appear for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. today.
She remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
When the incidents occurred, Pacheco-Fernandez was out of custody on bail in two Hilo Circuit Court cases. One was for allegedly driving at Toyota Tacoma at police officers, two of whom fired their weapons in the crowded Puainako KTA Super Stores parking lot on Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving. The other was for an unrelated burglary and theft in May 2019.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.