A 21-year-old Hilo man accused of stealing a Hele-On bus earlier this month has done it again, police said.
A 21-year-old Hilo man accused of stealing a Hele-On bus earlier this month has done it again, police said.
Kawelo Nakamura was arrested at about 6:45 a.m. Monday at the county Parks and Recreation department’s Hoolulu Complex, where the bus was found, damaged.
County employees reported at 1:36 a.m. Monday morning that the lock on the gate to Mass Transit Agency baseyard on East Kawailani Street baseyard was cut and the gates were found open, police said.
Reports received indicated that a 42-passenger bus was stolen and may have been seen heading in the Hamakua direction over the Wailuku Bridge on Highway 19 and later on Queen Kaahumanu Highway near the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows in South Kohala.
At 6:24 a.m., police briefly pursued the bus after it was seen returning to Hilo on Bayfront Highway, but the pursuit was discontinued in the interest of public safety, police said.
The bus was located behind Walter Victor Stadium in the Hoolulu Complex.
Police and crime lab technicians were surveying damage to the bus and processing it for evidence Monday morning in the parking lot of the county’s Sparky Kawamoto Aquatic Complex, which is also in the Hoolulu facility.
Nakamura is also accused of stealing another bus on Aug. 5 from the Mass Transit baseyard and sideswiping a car on Railroad Avenue near Home Depot. He was later pulled over by police and taken into custody without incident on Highway 130 near Pahoa.
In this case, he’s charged with first-degree theft, driving a stolen vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal property damage, and driving the bus without a commercial driver’s license for that theft. He was freed on supervised release, but was indicted by a Hilo grand jury on Aug. 23.
Potential witnesses or any one with information are asked to call the police non-emergency line at 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers number at 961-8300.
An updated version of this story will appear in Tuesday’s Tribune-Herald.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.