UPDATE: Police found the suspect, 28-year-old Varaha Mims, at the home of a Hilo acquaintance. Mims was arrested at 7:36 a.m. on suspicion of attempted murder. He’s in custody at the Hilo police cellblock while Criminal Investigation Section detectives investigate.
UPDATE: Police found the suspect, 28-year-old Varaha Mims, at the home of a Hilo acquaintance. Mims was arrested at 7:36 a.m. on suspicion of attempted murder. He’s in custody at the Hilo police cellblock while Criminal Investigation Section detectives investigate.
Police described the victims on Keawe Street as a 28-year-old Pahoa man and a 27-year-old Hilo woman. The Pahoa man was listed in critical condition at Hilo Medical Center. The woman was treated for her injuries and released.
The Ohai Street victim was described as a 49-year-old man police say is acquainted with Mims. He was listed in stable condition at Hilo Medical Center.
The Tribune-Herald will update this story when more information is available. See Saturday’s edition for more details.
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Police are investigating the non-fatal stabbings of three people in two incidents in downtown Hilo early Friday morning.
“They happened within minutes of each other,” police Sgt. Lorenzo Artienda said Friday morning. According to a police log, the stabbings occurred outside Hilo Town Tavern on Keawe Street downtown and on the 300 block of Ohai Street in Wainaku.
The incidents occurred about midnight, according to the log. It appears the downtown incident took place first. Police have opened three attempted first-degree murder cases.
Artienda said the victims are two men and a woman. Police are looking for a suspect believed to be responsible for both incidents, described as a fair-skinned man, 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3 and muscular.
On Ohai Street, the victim was described as a middle-aged man who neighbors said was stabbed in his driveway.
Neighbor Donna LaBelle said a neighbor woman named Cody tried to help the Ohai Street victim.
“Cody was hysterical, covered in blood,” LaBelle said. “She was tried doing CPR on him. It took so long for the ambulance to arrive.”
Chucky and Sharon Nunes said they didn’t see the stabbing itself but witnessed Cody trying to assist the victim.
“The cops said he had multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest,” Chucky Nunes said and added both police and a fire truck arrived on scene before an ambulance.
The couple said they think the stabber was an individual who had at least two previous run-ins with the Ohai Street victim, whose name they didn’t know. They said the alleged assailant broke a window in the house in a previous incident and punched the victim unconscious.
Sharon Nunes described it as “a crazy night” and said she “tossed and turned” all night, trying to sleep.
“We just moved in,” Sharon Nunes said. “I lived here before. You know, it’s a lot quieter here than it was before.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com
