Kona man arrested after armed confrontation

A Captain Cook man faces 20 criminal charges with 20 offenses following a confrontation with a handgun in a Kona parking lot.

A Captain Cook man faces 20 criminal charges with 20 offenses following a confrontation with a handgun in a Kona parking lot.

At 10:35 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a parking lot at a retail store on the 75-1000 block of Henry Street. A witness reported hearing an argument in a Dodge Charger between a man and a woman and the woman screaming about a gun.

An officer saw a vehicle matching the Charger’s description traveling north on Ane Keohokalole Highway and stopped it. After seeing a handgun in the car, he arrested both occupants, 40-year-old Duane K. Grace of Captain Cook and 31-year-old Radiance A. Whigham of Kailua-Kona, on a firearms offense.

The Charger was recovered and taken to the Kona police station.

Police say officers found an unoccupied Honda sedan, which had been driven by Grace, in the store parking lot with its motor still running. They found a cut straw with residue inside the car and seized the car as evidence.

Search warrants were executed on both vehicles, according to police, with a loaded handgun, 50 additional rounds of ammunition, 17.3 grams of methamphetamine, 6.8 grams of marijuana, 30 Alprazolam pills, 16 additional cut pieces of the pills, and drug paraphernalia recovered.

On Wednesday, police released Whigham from police custody without charges. Investigation revealed that the couple knew each other and that Grace had forced his way into Whigham’s car and threatened her with the gun.

At 11:10 a.m. today, detectives charged Grace with kidnapping, robbery, auto theft, parole violation, promoting a harmful drug, marijuana possession, four counts each of promoting a dangerous drug and drug paraphernalia, plus and six weapons offenses.

Grace’s bail was set at $383,000, and his initial court appearance is scheduled for Friday.