A 33-year-old Puna man who was arrested and charged with habitual DUI after a breath sample indicated his blood-alcohol content was almost 3 1/2 times the legal threshold for drunken driving was released from custody by a judge Monday without posting cash bail.
According to court records, Deputy Public Defender Jared Auna moved to have Replace Anres, who was unable to post $53,000 bail, freed on supervised release, a form of cashless bail. Auna’s motion was granted by Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk over the objection of Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Son.
According to county Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen, Anres was arrested Saturday after a traffic collision at the intersection of Keaau-Pahoa Road (Highway 130) and Shower Drive in Hawaiian Paradise Park. According to police reports, Anres, who was driving a Jeep Cherokee, rear-ended a Toyota 4-Runner that was at a complete stop within the left-turn lane at the intersection. Anres later provided a breath sample indicating a 0.274 blood-alcohol content.
Anres was charged with habitual DUI, driving after license suspended for DUI, inattention to driving and driving without insurance.
Habitual DUI is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment, upon conviction.
According to court records, this is Anres’ fifth time to be arrested and charged with DUI, and the fourth incident within the past decade. He has previous drunken driving convictions on March 1, 2012, Sept. 30, 2016, Dec. 26, 2017 and Aug. 7, 2019.
Hawk ordered Anres to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 4.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.