A manhunt for a 30-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend and driving off in a stolen truck Friday morning ended with police shooting and killing the man at about 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. ADVERTISING A manhunt for a 30-year-old
A manhunt for a 30-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend and driving off in a stolen truck Friday morning ended with police shooting and killing the man at about 4 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Police found the truck, a gray 2010 Nissan Frontier pickup allegedly stolen by Stephen Joshua Whitney parked in a Hilo-bound lane on Highway 11 near Kipimana Street, the entrance to Shipman Industrial Park just outside Keaau. Police say officers approached the truck, the driver failed to comply with lawful orders by the officer. The suspect then drove forward, gunning his engine heading toward another officer, when an officer shot him, police said.
Firefighters and paramedics found officers on the side of the road performing CPR on the man, who had suffered two gunshot wounds to the upper torso. He was identified by fingerprints as Whitney.
Whitney was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police closed a Hilo-bound lane of Highway 11 and traffic was slowed, but the highway was not completely closed.
According to the police, the officer who discharged his firearm has three years experience.
As in standard practice in any police shooting, the Police Department’s Hilo Criminal Investigation Section will conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting and the Office of Professional Standards, the department’s internal affairs unit, will conduct an administrative investigation.
The officer will be placed on paid administrative leave during the investigations.
Police say Whitney stabbed his 41-year-old girlfriend in a domestic assault earlier in the day at an apartment on Banyan Drive in Hilo.
The woman was taken to Hilo Medical Center in critical condition, but her condition was later upgraded to stable, police said.
Whitney allegedly fled the scene in a gray Honda sedan, which police say was reported stolen from Ocean View. At 9:02 a.m., less than an hour after officers first responded to 121 Banyan Drive, officers responded to the 1800 block of Kaumana Drive “after receiving a call from road surveyors in the area, who reported that a local male drove up in a gray Honda sedan,” police said. According to police reports, the suspect got out of the Honda, got into the truck and fled.
Police took both vehicles into evidence.
Investigators combed the common areas of the Oceanfront 121 building, formerly known as Country Club Condos, for evidence related to Friday morning’s stabbing and interviewed multiple residents, asking if they heard or witnessed anything.
“We came out of the door and there was a police officer kind of scanning for blood,” said neighbor Thomas Berdon, who said he slept through the incident and was unsure what actually happened.
But Steve Lea, owner of Gina’s Lunch Wagon, said he heard loud noises.
“The fire department showed up first, and then immediately an ambulance and upwards of 12 different police cars,” he said.
Capt. Robert Wagner, commander of the police Criminal Investigative Division, said the woman briefly answered a few questions after the assault happened.
Police reportedly returned to the apartment complex later that night to execute a search warrant on the apartment where they believe the assault occurred.
Oceanfront 121 serves a wide range of residents, from health professionals to construction workers, service workers and people with disabilities.
A woman who identified herself as the manager, and gave her name as “Lila. Just Lila — they know who I am,” said, “we have a lot of senior citizens here. So we all try to make sure that they’re all OK and that they’re comfortable.”
Residents all know each other, lunch wagon owner Lea said.
“This is like my family,” Lila said. “So I make sure that everybody’s taken care of. We all have fun. We give everybody ‘Aloha!’ We try to make everybody feel comfortable, like you’re living at home.”
The shooting is the fifth fatal police-involved shooting this year.
Two of the men shot to death, Ronald Barawis Jr., a 38-year-old parolee, and Scottie Yanagawa, a 29-year-old prison furlough violator, were reportedly wanted by police for a Jan. 31 shooting at Honolii Lookout in Hilo that critically injured a Kona man, William Holbron-Kealoha.
Barawis was shot and killed by officers Feb. 5 in the McDonald’s drive-thru at Puainako Town Center in Hilo. Police say Barawis was heavily armed and drove at officers, who fired in response. A woman who was in the car with Barawis was critically injured by gunfire.
Yanagawa was killed four days later in a shootout with officers in the Hilo Wal-Mart parking lot. Police say Yanagawa shot first.
Kalyp Rapoza, 25, of Hilo, was fatally shot June 6 by an officer at a home on East Kawailani Street. Police say Rapoza chased Fire Department ambulance personnel back into their vehicle with a dog and knife. An officer dispatched to the scene was confronted, according to police, and shot Rapoza and the pit bull.
Family members of Rapoza have disputed the police account of events as reported by the Tribune-Herald, but did not respond to at least two Tribune-Herald invitations to tell their side of the story.
Medeiros, 36, of Keaau, was shot and killed July 22 by an officer on Beach Road off Kaloli Drive in Hawaiian Paradise Park. Police say Medeiros was sitting alone in a pickup truck with a handgun and when two officers approached the truck, a struggle ensued.
During the struggle, Medeiros allegedly pointed the handgun at one of the officers and the officer fired in response, killing Medeiros.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com and Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
