Hawaii Police have identified two Hilo residents who were arrested after two officer-involved shooting incidents late Thursday in connection with the ongoing hunt for a fugitive who allegedly shot and killed a Puna patrol officer.
The two suspects in custody have been identified as Harvey Damo, Jr., and Shevylyn Klaus, both 25-year-old Hilo residents. Both have been charged with second-degree theft.
According to a police statement, police received a tip that Justin Waiki, the 33-year-old man suspected in the shooting death of Puna patrol officer Bronson Kaimana Kaliloa on Tuesday, had been seen in a primer-colored truck within a parking lot on Henry Street in Kailua-Kona.
Officers checked the scene for the vehicle and found a vehicle matching the description at 5:19 p.m. Within the vehicle were a male driver and a female passenger.
When officers issued commands to the pair, the driver allegedly instead drove toward an officer at high speed, prompting the officer to shoot at the vehicle three times. The vehicle continued onward, leading officers on a high-speed chase on the Hokulia Bypass Road and down Napoopoo Road.
As the pursuit proceeded westbound on Napoopoo Road, another officer, positioned in the suspects’ path, fired an additional 10 times at the suspect vehicle, to no avail. The suspects continued onto Middle Keei Road.
The suspects abandoned the vehicle in a private coffee field on Keala Makua Place in Honaunau and fled the area on foot into lava fields and thick brush. After a search of the area, the two suspects were located and taken into custody without further incident.
Damo, the driver, was treated at Kona Community Hospital for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Both officers who discharged their weapons have been placed on administrative leave in accordance with protocol in any officer-involved shooting.
The suspect vehicle was determined to have been stolen earlier in the day from Hilo.
Neither suspect appears to have any direct connection to Waiki.
The investigation of Thursday’s incident is ongoing.
No new information about the suspected whereabouts of Waiki has been revealed.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com
