A 29-year-old Pahoa woman sought by police for questioning in an attempted murder investigation was indicted on an unrelated firearms charge along with a man police say they also want to talk to in connection with the attempted murder case.
A Hilo grand jury on Feb. 7 indicted Angel L. Ano and 35-year-old Benjamin Manuel III of Glenwood on a single count of carrying a loaded firearm on a public roadway for an incident Jan. 19 on Ahuna Road in the Panaewa neighborhood of Hilo.
Ano and Manuel were previously charged for the Hilo firearms offense, and both are free on $5,000 bail each.
Both have a court date at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in Hilo District Court, but the indictment moves the case to Hilo Circuit Court. Both will be arraigned in the higher court after they’re re-arrested on a bench warrant issued with the indictment. That warrant carries the same $5,000 bail amount for each.
According to court records, the police report for the Hilo firearms incident was sealed, but a police log indicates the firearm in question is a handgun.
Police have publicly sought Ano since an early morning incident Friday in which an unknown gunman fired a shot at a police officer in Tiki Gardens subdivision off Ainaloa Boulevard near Pahoa.
Officers responded to the subdivision after receiving several reports at about 6 a.m. of gunshots, followed by the sound of a woman shouting. Police think Ano, who was described as a Tiki Gardens resident, was the woman heard shouting. Witnesses reportedly told police the woman drove away from the area shortly after the incident.
One of the responding officers encountered a man attempting to leave the area on a dirt bike. Police said the man dropped the bike, then got up, pointed a long gun, and fired a shot at the officer, which missed. The man then ran into nearby bushes.
The officer reportedly did not return fire.
The investigation was classified as attempted first-degree murder because the alleged intended victim is a police officer.
Police Lt. Miles Chong of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said police have the warrants on Ano and Manuel.
Chong stopped short of identifying Manuel as a suspect or person of interest in the attempted murder case, but said, “He’s someone we want to talk to.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.