Police arrested the driver of a white Chevy pickup truck that allegedly was the getaway vehicle for a passenger police say shot and wounded an officer Friday morning in the parking lot of the First Hawaiian Bank Waiakea Branch near Prince Kuhio Plaza.
Silas Zion, a 23-year-old Puna man, was taken into custody shortly after 6 p.m. in Puna, police said.
He faces a potential charge of being an accessory to attempted first-degree murder for the shooting that hospitalized an officer.
The manhunt continues for 39-year-old Christopher Lucrisia of Puna, who allegedly fired the shots that wounded the officer and is wanted on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder.
Lucrisia is described by police as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 250 pounds, green eyes, black hair. Police said he is Puerto Rican.
According to court records, Lucrisia has at least two prior felony convictions, both for auto theft.
The wounded officer, a nine-year police veteran who is assigned to the East Hawaii Vice Section, was in serious condition at Hilo Benioff Medical Center, but was later medivaced to The Queen’s Medical Center’s trauma center in Honolulu for further treatment. He remained there in serious but stable condition.
Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said the officer was awake and alert prior to his being transferred to the Honolulu hospital.
“It’s certainly my hope and the hope of the entire department that this officer comes out of surgery and is able to make a full and complete recovery,” Moszkowicz said during a press conference early Friday evening. “We would like nothing better than to see the officer return to duty as quickly as he’s physically, spiritually and emotionally ready to.”
Police say Lucrisia, who has two felony convictions for auto theft, was wanted on a warrant to arrest him on suspicion of reckless endangering, robbery and firearms offenses. The warrants are in connection with two incidents that happened earlier in the week.
According to police, at about 1 a.m. Monday, Lucrisia arrived at a residence in Mountain View, demanding to see his ex-girlfriend, a 39-year-old Mountain View woman. Police said that after a brief argument in the home’s driveway, Lucrisia produced a handgun and fired at least one round into the ground.
Police believe shrapnel from that round struck the woman, causing superficial wounds to her legs and feet. Lucrisia reportedly fled the area in a primer-black Nissan Xterra.
Then, at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, police say Lucrisia returned to the same house and entered without permission. Once inside, Lucrisia allegedly threatened a bedridden 75-year-old woman with a firearm and stole a bag from her bed before threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, who wasn’t home at the time.
As a convicted felon, Lucrisia is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm or ammunition.
“Mr. Lucrisia decided, regardless of his status as a convicted felon, to not only obtain a firearm illegally, but to attempt to kill his girlfriend, rob a 75-year-old bedridden woman, and shoot at and attempt to kill police officers,” Moszkowicz said.
According to Moszkowicz, police received information Friday morning that Lucrisia was in the area of the bank. Moszkowicz said that without any prior conversation or provocation, Lucrisia fired at least twice and hit the officer twice, in the right forearm and in the head.
The chief said another officer returned fire, but it’s not known whether or not that officer hit Lucretia.
First Hawaiian Bank said in a statement that they were “aware of the shooting incident.”
“We want to reassure the community that all our staff and customers are safe, and our operations remain unaffected. As this is an active investigation, we defer to the Hawaii Police Department for further details,” the bank said in the statement.
The manhunt started in the Waiakea Houselots neighborhood of Hilo near the intersection of Manono and Leilani Streets. But, according to Moszkowicz, homes were cleared and a search was executed, but it “didn’t pan out,” prompting police to expand the search islandwide.
“To my knowledge, we don’t know for sure where the truck is,” Moszkowicz said. “We have some intelligence that’s leading us to a certain portion of the island … but to my knowledge, the truck hasn’t been positively identified and recovered at this time.
“If the suspects are out there and they’re watching this broadcast (of the press conference), I urge you to call 911 and tell the police where you are so that we can negotiate some sort of peaceful surrender,” Moszkowicz added. “We don’t need any more violence in this case. Nobody else needs to be hurt. We just want to make sure that justice is done.”
Mayor Kimo Alameda also spoke briefly at the press conference, calling it “a sad day for us here on the Big Island.”
“For the two suspects out there who did this, we’re going to find you, and we’re going to prosecute you to the full extent,” he added.
Moszkowicz said a best-case scenario is that the manhunt “plays out very quickly, safely and peacefully” and the officers involved “are in their beds at home in a few hours.”
“If that’s not the case, like the mayor said, we’re not going to stop,” the chief said. “We have received offers of support from two of our neighbor island police departments … if the manhunt proceeds into (Saturday). We also have an offer of support from the (state) Department of Law Enforcement. They have 12 of their personnel on the first flight over tomorrow.
“… In addition, support from our federal partners has been amazing. Folks from the (U.S. Marshals) and Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are either on island or headed to the island. And the use of their resources in some of these circumstances are really game changers in helping us getting things settled very quickly.”
As with any critical incident, the HPD Office of Professional Standards — the department’s internal affairs unit — has initiated an incident review as standard practice. The detective who fired his firearm is a 17-year department veteran assigned to the East Hawaii Vice Section.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
