Domingo, Apuakehau officers of the month

The Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaii recognized South Hilo Patrol Officer Ryan Domingo as “Officer of the Month” for June and Puna Patrol Officer Corina Apuakehau as “Officer of the Month” for July. Both were honored July 26at a luncheon ceremony at Coqui’s Hideaway in Hilo.

Domingo was honored for administering life-saving first aid to a victim of gunshot wounds. On May 13, police responded to a disturbance involving gunshots in Hilo. At the scene, officers arrested the suspect, Joseph Amormino Sr., and Domingo found the woman, June Shirshac, lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. He immediately applied pressure to her wounds to control the bleeding.

Shirshac is expected to make a full recovery.

Apuakehau was recognized for what Sgt. Juergen Canda described as “her diligence and exemplary police work” that led to the arrest of an alleged meth trafficker and the recovery of drugs.

On June 1, while Apuakehau was on patrol, she encountered a suspicious man in an abandoned structure. When she confronted him and asked him to identify himself, he gave a false name. At this point, Apuakehau recognized him as someone police had previously arrested on drug charges and who was wanted on a bench warrant. She arrested him on the warrant. Concealed in his waistband were a glass smoking pipe with drug residue, a resealable plastic bag containing a distributable amount of “ice” and a large amount of cash proceeds from drug dealing, police said.

The Vice Section took over the investigation and determined that the suspect had been distributing a significant amount of ice on neighborhood streets. His arrest aided them greatly in their ongoing investigations.

As “Officer of the Month,” Domingo and Apuakehau are each eligible for “Officer of the Year.”

The East Hawaii “Officer of the Month” award is a project of the Aloha Exchange Club of Hilo.