A 35-year-old Puna man accused of commandeering without permission a 50-foot sailing catamaran from Kailua Bay was found unfit to stand trial Wednesday.
A 35-year-old Puna man accused of commandeering without permission a 50-foot sailing catamaran from Kailua Bay was found unfit to stand trial Wednesday.
Jason Michael Fujioka, of Keaau, appeared via video conference before Kona District Court Judge Margaret Masunaga for a return on doctors’ mental fitness evaluation.
The three-doctor panel returned reports to the court finding Fujioka unfit to stand trial. He will be committed to the state Department of Health.
Court proceedings have been suspended and a review hearing was scheduled for Aug. 19.
Fujioka is charged with first-degree theft, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and violating Gov. David Ige’s stay-at-home emergency order after Kalani Nakoa called police to report the Noa Noa sailing catamaran stolen.
The Noa Noa was located traveling in waters off Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole when the vessel’s owner, assisted by another private vessel, was able to stop it in the area of Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority. The suspect at the helm of the stolen vessel was detained and brought to Honokohau Small Boat Harbor.
There, officers with the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) arrested Fujioka.
