A judge maintained bail Monday for a 33-year-old Hilo man accused of ramming a taxpayer-subsided police vehicle with a pickup truck during the commission of an active burglary in Puna.
Police said officers responding at about 2:30 p.m. Friday to a burglary report on 21st Avenue in Hawaiian Paradise Park observed a heavily tinted silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with no front license plate parked near a warehouse on the rear of the property.
According to court documents filed by police, Officer Jensen Martins, a recruit in training, exited the passenger side of Officer Damien Grace’s subsidized 2019 Toyota 4-Runner, when the driver of the Tacoma, later identified as Gilbert K. Mata III, allegedly revved the engine of the Tacoma and attempted to strike Martins. Documents state Martins jumped back in to the police vehicle, and Mata struck both a fence, then reversed and hit Grace’s passenger side door, causing damage.
Both officers were reportedly uninjured.
The fence reportedly deflated the front driver’s side tire of the Tacoma, but the driver left the property, driving slowly as the officers pursued with their blue lights and siren on. The truck’s driver refused to stop and allegedly led the officers out of Hawaiian Paradise Park.
The front driver’s side tire of the truck was observed to be deflated after running over the fence. As the vehicle exited the property, officers attempted a traffic stop on the truck utilizing their blue lights and siren. The truck refused to stop and led police on a slow pursuit, out of Hawaiian Paradise Park, onto Highway 130, then into Ainaloa Estates and finally, into Hawaiian Acres.
According to documents, the vehicle pursuit lasted about 27 minutes and covered 14 miles.
The truck eventually came to a stop on Road 6, between Road E and Road F. Mata, carrying a black backpack got out of the driver’s side, police said, and a woman with a gray backpack, identified as 35-year-old Carolyn Samson, got out of the passenger side. Both fled on foot into nearby bushes, dropping the backpacks. Police apprehended both after a brief chase.
Both were arrested and the truck and backpacks were recovered as evidence and secured pending the execution of search warrants.
The truck was found to be stolen from a Hilo residence in Late July and the backpack search resulted in the recovery of small amounts of methamphetamine, a methamphetamine-smoking pipe, and a blue round pill imprinted with “M30” which tested positive for fentanyl.
Mata was charged with auto theft, first-degree theft, resisting an order to stop, habitual property crime and four counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
The most serious charge, first-degree theft, is a Class B felony that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, upon conviction.
According to documents, Mata has five previous felony convictions.
Samson was booked on suspicion of unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle and methamphetamine pending. She was later released from custody pending further investigation.
Bail for Mata was set at $240,000, which was confirmed Monday by Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk. Hawk also ordered Mata to return to court today for a preliminary hearing.
Mata remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com