A 28-year-old Mountain View woman has been charged for an alleged Friday afternoon knifepoint carjacking in downtown Hilo.
A 28-year-old Mountain View woman has been charged for an alleged Friday afternoon knifepoint carjacking in downtown Hilo.
Ashley Leialoha Hamada is charged with one count of robbery and one count of auto theft, police Lt. James Gusman said Sunday morning.
Hamada was taken into custody at 6:15 p.m. Friday at the Umauma Bridge about 16 miles north of Hilo.
At 4:41 p.m., Friday police received a report of a knifepoint robbery and auto theft at the corner of Kamehameha Avenue and Furneaux Lane in downtown Hilo. A 22-year-old man reportedly told police a woman wielded what Gusman described as “a box-cutter-type knife” and stole his car.
The man resisted and sustained superficial injuries but did not require medical treatment, Gusman said.
Hamada is in custody in lieu of $60,000 bail pending her initial court appearance Tuesday.
Hamada is also suspected in the theft of a car from the Chevron gas station at Makaala Street near the Hilo Walmart shortly after 4 p.m. Friday. She was released pending further investigation in connection with that incident, Gusman said.
According to court records, Hamada was convicted of credit card theft on March 1, 2012 and was sentenced to five years probation and a year in jail by Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara. The jail time was suspended and Hamada was granted a five-year deferral of her guilty plea, meaning the conviction would be expunged from her record if she stayed out of trouble with the law during her probation.
Charges of theft, identity theft and credit card fraud were dropped by prosecutors in exchange for her guilty plea, but the deferred plea agreement was granted over the objection of prosecutors, court records indicate.
A warrant for Hamada’s arrest was issued on July 29 for allegedly violating her probation and she was subsequently arrested. A hearing was set for Tuesday on the alleged violation.
The state Department of Public Safety website indicates Hamada was released from Hawaii Community Correctional Center Aug. 12 after posting $2,000 bail.
First-degree robbery is a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.